The Rustle of the Sheets
by Iluvsoaps
Summary: Murder and marriage go together like a horse and carriage! At least it does in Bonnie Bennett's world! Bonnie gets tangled up in a murder and is forced to marry Damon Salvatore, the victim's brother, to save her life. Will Bonnie make it out alive? Will Damon discover her secrets? Will Bamon fall in love?
1. Chapter 1

The mattress achingly croaked as the headboard continued to hit the wall as it tapped out a thunderous beat. Grunts, moans, "oohs and ahs", hit the air like a powerful gust of wind in a twister with each forceful thrust he made. He drove into her tight, wet, and cushiony walls as if his life depended on it. For her part she clutched on to him as her gushy juices streamed down and clung to his manhood like he was her buoy, a lifeline, the air she needed to breathe. She angled her torso, so that she could meet him at every twist and turn. Because to her it felt like a delicious, heady, and thrilling roller coaster ride that she didn't want to end. He whispered her name in a breathy grunt, "Bonnie"; in turn she moans out his in a high-pitched squeal, "Damon". There they were two sweaty and intertwined bodies joined as one in a primal mating dance, a horizontal tango of sorts. "But it didn't start out this way", she thought as they lay interlaced in each other's arms in the afterglow of their lovemaking. Her mind wandered to a time that felt like it was eons ago; in reality it was only a few months ago. As she drifted off into a wondrous slumber, she contemplated on how it all began…

Bonnie Bennett paced back and forth as her feet kicked up dust with every anxious step she took.

"Where is Caroline?" she said out loud to herself.

She was so ready to get this over with and clear the air with Caroline once and for all. She was tired of the back and forth, as well as the snarky comments from Caroline about her and Tyler's relationship. She was Tyler's girlfriend, the woman that he loved, not Caroline. Bonnie couldn't take it another day. Caroline's ogling and blatant flirting with her man had to stop. She, Bonnie Abigail Bennett, isn't a pushover. She would show Caroline Forbes who was boss today.

Darkness had begun to set in…the shadows danced on the trees, as the leaves fluttered and the wind howled. Nervousness started to seep into Bonnie's body the longer she paced and waited for Caroline.

"Damn it, Caroline! Where the hell are you?"

He creeped up behind her and yelled out, "Boo!"

Bonnie jumped and screamed out, "Oh My God! You scared the hell out of me, Stefan!"

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she held her hand over her heart.

"I'm just out for a walk. What about you? Why are you out here all by your lonesome." he said smoothly.

"I am waiting on Caroline to show up and she's late as usual, like I don't have exams to study for and a boyfriend to see." She said annoyed.

"Can't stand the bitch!" Stefan ground out.

"Why? What did the eternally peppy and snippy former cheer monster do to you?" Bonnie snapped back.

"The Bitch...fired me!" he spit out.

"Wow, she fired you…"

"That is what the hell I said! Are you deaf?"

"Hey don't get huffy with me! I am just asking. Dang! Why did she fire you anyways?" Bonnie huffed out.

"She claimed I was dealing drugs."

"Well, were you?" she asked.

"Yeah, but that isn't the point."

Bonnie shook her head and she shivered, as the darkness surrounded them.

"It seems like she had a right to fire you." She said matter of factly.

"No, the hell the bitch didn't!" Stefan yelled back.

"Hey, why are you yelling at me? I don't have anything to do with your problems!"

"Sorry, it's just that I am gonna get in a lot of trouble with my boss."

"Oh." She managed to squeak out.

"That stupid blonde bitch ruined everything!"

"I am sure you can explain to your boss about the situation and her firing you. Maybe it won't be as bad as you might think." She offered.

He shot back, "You don't know these people! They expect their money and I don't have it. It's all because of your fucking blonde friend!"

"Like, I said before this doesn't have anything to do with me."

"Yes, it does. You can convince her to re-hire me!" Stefan pleaded.

"Are you out of your damn mind? She isn't going to re-hire a known criminal. She knows you were dealing drugs out of the Grill. She's not going to risk her business or her livelihood for you, just so you can pay back the money that you owe!" Bonnie spat back at Stefan.

Stefan started to pace back and forth as he became more agitated by the conversation. He couldn't understand why she wouldn't talk to Caroline.

"All the bitch has to do is talk to her fucking friend!" He mumbled to himself.

As he looked at Bonnie, he became angrier. He needed someone to blame for his problems and she was here he thought to himself. Bonnie noticed the change in his demeanor and she shivered again. She noticed how his hands were fisted at his side. He kept clenching and squeezing his hands. She knew that she should make a speedy exit now before things got ugly.

"Well, since Caroline doesn't seem like she's coming, I am gonna go now. Good luck with everything." She said hurriedly.

"Where the hell are you going so quickly?" He said as he pulled on her arm.

"Ummm…I am leaving. She's not going to show up and I have an exam to study for."

"You're not leaving until you promise me that you will convince your bitch of a friend to re-hire me!"

"Are you high or something? Didn't I just tell you that I can't help you?" Bonnie's voice shook slightly as she tried to step around Stefan.

"No, bitch you won't help me!" He bellowed.

He grabbed her so fast; Bonnie didn't even have time to react. He yanked her body towards him and twisted her arms up in the air. Stefan began to rub his hands along Bonnie's body, as she cried out. Bonnie twisted in his arms, kicking her legs out and connecting with his shin. Stefan laughed as he pulled her in closer and sniffed along her neck.

He whispered in her ear, "You smell delicious! We are going to have so much fun tonight!" As he looked at her with this creepy look on his face, Bonnie had begun to, really fear for her well-being.

"Help! Somebody please help me!" she yelled in return.

Stefan placed his grimy hand over Bonnie's mouth to keep her quiet, as the fat salty tears rolled down her cheeks. She silently prayed that Caroline, hell anyone would come and save her from this monster. Stefan was so busy feeling Bonnie up that he didn't realize that Caroline had approached them from behind.

"Bonnie, sorry I am late. I had car trouble." Caroline babbled on without looking up from her phone.

"Bonnie, don't you hear me talking to you? Why haven't you answered me yet?" She yells out finally glancing up from her phone.

"Oh, Stefan! What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to get my job back bitch!"

"Oh my God, Bonnie, are you okay?" Caroline said frantically.

Bonnie was laying on the ground looking like a helpless rag doll. Caroline stepped over to check on her.

"Don't worry about her! What about my damn job?" Stefan reiterates loudly and rudely.

"Forget about your damn job! Is she okay?"

"I'm fine, Caroline." Bonnie manages to get out as she tries to get up off the cold, hard, dirty ground.

"Now, that you two have established that the bitch is okay. What about my job?" Stefan yelled out.

"I already told you yesterday that you can't have your job back." Caroline says in a tone as if she was talking to an idiot.

"Well, that is too bad because after I am done with you; you are going to wish you gave me job back bitch!" Stefan says as he menacingly stepped over to Caroline and tried to grab her, but Caroline was too fast.

She spun around the other way, picked up a rock, and hit Stefan in the back of his head. Stefan staggered back, regained his footing, and grabbed Caroline by her golden blonde hair. Bonnie then jumped up quickly and picked up the rock Caroline had used and hit Stefan twice in the same spot as Caroline did. Stefan staggered about like a drunken man for a minute or two, and then he slowly collapsed onto the ground with a big, loud thud.

Bonnie ran over to Caroline, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am fine. Is he?" Caroline could not quite finish.

"Yes, I think he is." Bonnie bent over his body to check and see if Stefan was still breathing.

"We need to get the hell out of here before the cops come!"

"No one knows we are out here. We should call 911."

"Are you fucking crazy, Bonnie?"

"No."

"We could go to prison for murder. That would mean I would have to wear stripes! I don't look good in stripes! Do you know what they would do to a pretty girl like me in prison? I would end up someone's bitch! I can't go to prison! I'm too pretty for that!" Caroline babbled on crazily.

"We can't just leave him here!" Bonnie pleaded.

"Oh, yes the hell we can!" Caroline quickly responded.

"I am calling the cops."

"No, the hell you're not. Put that phone down." Caroline commanded.

"Caroline, he's a human being."

"No, he's a scum bag who tried to do God knows what with the two of us. Fuck him. I'm outta here." Caroline declared as she marched away from the scene and back down the path to her car.

"Caroline! Wait." Bonnie yelled after her, running trying to catch up with Caroline's retreating figure.

Caroline practically speed walked to her car. Bonnie barely caught Caroline's door before it slammed shut in her face.

"Caroline, we have to tell someone about this. Maybe your Mom can help." Bonnie said in a rush.

"No, the hell we are not going to tell my mother, the Sheriff, any damn thing! Are you crazy? What the hell have you been smoking?" She yells as she waves her hands out in front of her.

Bonnie just looks at Caroline and shakes her head as she becomes frantic again.

"That is a fucking dead body, you idiot! We could go to prison, don't you understand?"

"Yes, Caroline. I understand the ramifications of our actions, but we do need to tell someone and explain what happened."

"No fucking way! You better get in your car and go home. Say nothing to no one. Not even your precious Grams!" Caroline said with finality as she started her car, slammed her car into gear, and sped away.

Bonnie just stood there in a daze, wondering what the hell just happened!


	2. Chapter 2

_**Thank you for all the reviews, alerts, faves, and follows. The support from you guys is amazing. This is my first story and I welcome any feedback and/or tips from you guys. To answer one reviewer's question, yes this fic is based on Guiding Light's Danny and Michelle. This fic will be similar, but have some unique twists and turns that I think will make this an interesting story. I will try to update at least once or twice a week. Thanks for reading. Enjoy!**_

Bonnie stood in the woods as the rain began to pour heavily down on her. The rain began to mix with tears that Bonnie didn't even realize were rolling down her cheeks. "I should go back and check on him." She thought. She began to slowly turn around and go back the way she came, but Bonnie's self-preservation kicked in and she ran. She ran straight to her car, locked her door, and just cried. After about 5 minutes of hysterics, she decided to dry her eyes and get help. Bonnie started her car and headed toward the Lockwood property to find Tyler, which was only a short distance away. Bonnie knew that if she couldn't count on anyone else, she could at least count on her boyfriend.

"Tyler will help me figure this out." She said to herself. "He has to." She murmured.

Bonnie pulled her grey 2012 Toyota Corolla along the circular drive and parked; she jumped out and ran up the front steps as fast as her little body could take her. She banged on the front door, praying that Tyler would be the one to answer and not Mrs. Lockwood. Mrs. Lockwood was always very kind and polite to her, but Bonnie knew she was a little on the nosy side and she didn't want to have answer any more questions than she needed to at this point. Luck was on her side because Tyler's uncle, Mason Lockwood, answered the door.

"Whoa! Bonnie, where's the fire?" Mason stood at the door in only his jeans with a white, fluffy towel around his neck.

"Uh…is Tyler here?" Bonnie asked completely ignoring Mason's question and his lack of clothing.

"Um…no, he's at Matt's house." Mason answered back as he continued to towel dry his dark, curly locks.

"Damn…damn...damn!" Bonnie stammered.

"Are you okay, Bonnie? Is there something I can help you with?" Mason asked trying to figure out what in the hell was going on with his nephew's girlfriend.

"No."

"No, you're not okay or no, I can't help you?" He queried as he kinked his eyebrow at Bonnie.

"Yes, I'm fine and no, you can't help me." She clarified for him.

"Thanks anyways Mason. I have to go and find Tyler before it's too late." She quickly begins to turn around and walk back down the stone steps.

"Bonnie, are you all right?" Mason asked worriedly. Mason stared at the young girl as she began to shiver a little from the cold and the rain.

"Yeah, I'll be fine once I talk to Tyler." Bonnie responds as she hops into her car and drives away.

Mason shakes his head and says to himself, "Kids these days…always in a damn hurry and everything is always a dire fucking emergency."

Bonnie speeds over to Matt Donovan's house, all the while hoping that she wouldn't be too late in getting help for Stefan. Bonnie wonders aloud, "What is going to happen if I'm too late?"

"I can't think about that now." She answers herself.

She makes it to Matt's house in record time, immediately jumping out of the car while leaving the motor running. Bonnie practically rips the door off the hinges when she enters Matt's small colonial style home without even bothering to knock. She charges into Matt's room as if hell's hounds were behind her and trying to drag her back to hell!

"Matty! Where's Tyler?" She says breathlessly while holding her side.

"He's in the Kitchen Bons. What is going on?" Matt answers alarmed. Bonnie's bedraggled appearance worries Matt as he stares at her dirty shoes and wet clothes and hair. She looks like a little rag doll standing in his living room.

"I need your help Matty!" She says urgently.

"What is it? You're scaring me Bons." What was really, truthfully scaring Matt was the look in Bonnie's eyes. She looked like she was terrified, as if she had seen a ghost or something.

"Just go get Tyler, okay. I will explain to both of you at the same time. I don't care to repeat this more than once."

"Okay, I will go and get Tyler then." Matt states firmly as he looks at Bonnie before he walks out of the room to go get Tyler. Matt wonders, "What in the hell is going on with Bonnie?"

Bonnie began to chew her nails as soon as Matt left the room. She knew it was a disgusting habit, but she needed comfort and it provided her with the comfort she needed for the moment. She began to quickly pace back and forth as her long black ponytail swished to-and-fro behind her swinging like a pendulum ready for execution. She prayed to the God in heaven that they weren't too late. "Because if we are too late then that would mean I am a…uh...I can't think about that now!" She mutters to herself.

"Babe, what the hell is going on?" Tyler says interrupting her thoughts, pacing, and nail chewing.

Bonnie looks up and answers, "Tyler! Thank God! I need your help. I need you to come with me right now it's an emergency!"

Tyler takes in Bonnie's appearance, her clothes were soaked through to the point that he could just make out her bra. Her shoes are grimy and are coated in a thick layer of mud and her usually beautiful, black hair is plastered to her head. She looked like she had been crying too; he could see where her tears had dried on her beautiful face. He instantly became alarmed, and he knew that something was terribly, terribly wrong with his girlfriend.

"Babe…why are you so wet? Where have you been and what have you been doing?" Tyler asks.

Bonnie takes a deep breath and plunges into the story. She tells Tyler and Matt about how strange Stefan was acting and how he tried to force himself on her and how he tried to hurt Caroline. She also tells them about her and Caroline hitting Stefan in the head with the rock and knocking him unconscious; and how they just left him in the woods without calling for help or going to the police.

"Tyler, I need you to come with me to check on Stefan. He could be de…de...dead." She was so upset Bonnie could barely get the words out.

Tyler ran his hands over his face, took a sobering breath, and said, "Fine babe. I will come with you. Okay."

Matt finally chimed in, "Me too, Bons." He walked over to Bonnie and gave her a comforting hug.

"Thanks guys." Bonnie said with relief as she let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding.

"But, first we need to get you out of those wet clothes babe." Tyler instructed. Bonnie just nodded her head; glad that Tyler was taking care of her and the situation at hand.

"Vic should have some clothes to fit you, Bons, in her room." Matt supplied.

"Great, and thanks again Matty." Bonnie replied as she left the room to go change into some dry clothes.

"What the hell did Bonnie and Caroline just get us into?" Tyler asked with a grimace on his handsome face, still not quite understanding how this could be happening to his girlfriend of all people. Bonnie was a good girl and she hardly ever got into any trouble; now Caroline on the other hand was nothing but trouble. If trouble had a name, then its name would be Caroline Forbes; she was a walking magnet for trouble and it followed her everywhere she went. He just couldn't believe the situation they had gotten themselves into.

"I don't know, but this is bound to be trouble with a capital T." Matt said while shaking his head from side to side. Matt knew that this had the potential to be very bad, he just hoped for everyone sake's that they found Stefan Salvatore alive and well, because he didn't know what they would do if he wasn't found alive.

While Bonnie took a shower and changed, there was a knock at the door. Matt wondered, "Who the heck is it now? The police…?" Matt opened the door to find none other than Caroline Forbes standing on his front porch looking just as scared as Bonnie did a half an hour earlier.

"Matt, where is Tyler?" Caroline breezed past him into the house without so much as a hello.

"What am I chopped liver?" Matt said as he continued to shake his head from side to side, not quite understanding Caroline's obsession with Tyler Lockwood.

"Tyler! Oh my Gawd, you won't believe what happened to me tonight!" Caroline said in an exaggerated tone while grabbing Tyler by his shirt and pulling him in a tight hug.

Tyler pulled away from Caroline and shook his head as Matt did just a few minutes before and said, "Caroline, save the histrionics! I already know the damn story! Bonnie filled me in already."

"Damn, that girl to hell! I told her to keep her flipping mouth shut and not to tell anyone." Caroline responded while stomping her foot.

"No, you're exact words were to 'keep my fucking mouth shut and not to tell anyone even my precious Grams'!" Bonnie interrupted as she entered the living room after her shower and change of clothes.

"Hurrumph! You're such a little do-gooder Bonnie Bennett!" Caroline said snidely in return.

"Go to Hades Caroline Forbes!" Bonnie spat back as she stepped forward, directly into Caroline's face.

"Ladies…ladies…ladies, we do not have time for this! We have to go and check on the dead guy!" Matt tried to diffuse the situation before it escalated into a huge, all out brawl between the two girls. For some unknown reason Bonnie and Caroline could not or would not get along with each other; the two girls had been at each other's throats since elementary school. The two constantly battled each other for supremacy over boys, grades, sports, cheerleading, clothes, makeup, etc. and no one ever coming out as the decisive winner. It had become a never-ending battle for both girls, their need to be on top; neither girl wanting to let up their battle of supremacy any time soon.

"Um…Matt, ixnay on the…" Tyler says as he makes a hangman gesture to Matt instead of saying "dead guy" to keep the girls from getting even more upset. Tyler could see both girls becoming more agitated as time as the minutes ticked by.

"We have to go now! We have been gone for a while." Bonnie interrupts suddenly heading to the door.

"Fine!" Caroline, Tyler, and Matt say in unison following behind her.

They all agree to take Tyler's sport utility vehicle back to the falls. Bonnie and Caroline lead the way to where they left Stefan. They arrive at the spot in the woods to find…no one there.

"He should have been right over there." Bonnie says while running her hands through her hair and taking a deep breath. She was becoming more agitated by the moment. "Where could he have gone?" She wonders aloud.

"He couldn't have gotten too far." Caroline adds in while twisting her blonde locks around her finger. "This shit is crazy." She muttered to herself. Caroline hoped against hope that Stefan hadn't strayed too far away, she needed to believe that he was alive because she knew she probably couldn't handle the alternative.

"How about we split up and look for him." Matt suggests. Hoping that if they split up that they would find Stefan because if not Matt didn't want to think about the consequences for all those involved.

"Bonnie and I will go this way and you and Caroline can go that way." Tyler orders as he points in the directions he wants both teams to take.

"Fine!" Caroline mutters as she stomps off in the direction Tyler pointed to moments earlier. Caroline was hoping that Tyler would have suggested they team up instead of him and Bonnie. "Damn her." Caroline thought to herself while she walked ahead of Matt.

"Women…" Matt responds while shaking his at Caroline's childish behavior as he followed quickly behind her.

"I hope we weren't too late." Bonnie says hoping that if she verbalizes it, then that will make it true.

"Babe, stop worrying, okay. We are going to find him and everything will be fine." Tyler says as he gives Bonnie's hand an encouraging squeeze. Tyler hated this, because there wasn't a damn thing he could do to make Bonnie feel any better.

They looked all around the falls for Stefan for about an hour and they came up empty handed in their search. Bonnie and Caroline are panicking now, because they don't know if Stefan is dead or alive. Hell, he could be at the police station right now trying to turn them in for attempted murder. The boys are trying to do their best to keep both of the girls calm and keep them from imagining the worst possible scenario, but it is no use, Bonnie and Caroline are imagining the worst. After over an hour of searching, the boys decide it is best if they pack it in and head home for the night, and try again tomorrow. They all decided to head back to Matt's house to crash for the night due to the lateness of the hour.

Bonnie tosses and turns all night, she keeps seeing Stefan's face from when she left him in the woods. Tyler tries to rub her back, but it is of no use because nothing seems to calm Bonnie's nerves. Tyler just pulls Bonnie close and just holds her tightly hoping that she would begin to relax and get some sleep. After a while, Bonnie finally falls into a fitful slumber.

Bonnie jumps up suddenly when her phone begins to play The Throne's (Jay-Z and Kanye West) "Otis" in a continuous loop. Bonnie knew exactly who that was calling, her brother Derrick Remington Bennett, III, better known as Remy. Bonnie knew that her brother was probably a little pissed, no scratch that…probably pissed the hell off that she didn't come home last night. Bonnie knew she wasn't in any condition to go home last night and answer questions from her brother, grandmother, and sister-in-law. She had been too distraught to gather her thoughts last night; let alone face the firing squad that she calls family.

"Hello." She murmurs into the phone.

"Where the hell are you, Bonnie?" Her brother practically yells into the phone.

"Huh?" Bonnie mumbles.

"Don't play with me, Lil Sis…now, where the hell are you?" He asks again, even louder than before. Remy was worried because Bonnie always called to let them know if she was staying out late, and rarely if ever did she not come home without calling.

"I'm at Caroline's." She lies easily.

"What the hell are you doing there?" Remy asks incredulously. He couldn't believe she was hanging with that Forbes girl again. "When will that girl ever learn?" He thought. He didn't understand girls at all, one minute they are besties and the next they are enemies; he couldn't quite figure that shit out between those two.

"We had some things to hash out." She tried to stick as close to the truth as possible because she wasn't a great liar, and her brother could tell when she wasn't being honest.

"Are you okay? No one got beat up, did they?" He asked half-jokingly and half-serious.

"Nah, we are okay, everything is fine." She says.

"Babe, who's that on the phone?" Tyler says as he slowly rises from the bed.

"Who is that? That sounds like a man?" Remy responds.

"Is that Tyler?"

"Huh? No…no, I've got to go. I will call you later. Bye. Love you." She quickly hangs up before Remy could say anything else.

"Did she just hang up on me?" Remy says to himself as he stares at the telephone shaking his head. "My sister is going to be the death of me." He mutters to himself. He wonders what in the hell is going on with his little sister. He would definitely have to find out.

"Whew…that was a close one." Bonnie exhales.

"What do you mean, babe?" Tyler asks not quite understanding what is going on.

"That was my big Bro, and I told him I stayed at Caroline's last night." Bonnie explains.

"Oh."

"And then you opened you're mouth and I had to think of something, so I hung up on him." She laughs.

"He's going to be so pissed!" She continues to laugh imagining her brothers face as she hung up on him.

"Damn, he already hates me." Tyler whines.

"It will be okay, baby. I will just tell him you stopped by and that something came up and that is why I hung up on him. I just have to figure out a way to avoid him and my family for a few days."

"You can't avoid them forever, you know."

"I know, but we to need figure everything out before I have to face my family." She says.

"Speaking of that, we need to figure out where the hell Stefan Salvatore is?"

"He's d-e-a-d. That is where he is." Caroline interrupts their conversation as she walks into the living room.

"What?" Bonnie and Tyler respond in unison as they give each other worried looks.

"How do you know?" Bonnie asks.

"Because my mom, the Sheriff, just called and told me about it."

"How?"

"When?"

"Where?" Bonnie and Tyler asked one question after the other.

"They found him floating face down in the water at the falls; an employee was doing some work on the Lockwood property and noticed the body around 7 am this morning and called the Sheriff's office." Caroline responded.

"Oh my Gawd…then we really did kill him!" Bonnie gasps and begins to weep. Tyler wraps Bonnie up in his arms and tries to give her some comfort.

"What are we going to do?" Bonnie cries.

"I am going to tell you what we are going to do…" Caroline says matter of factly.

"What?" Bonnie and Tyler both ask at the same time.

"Nothing. Absolutely, freaking nothing." Caroline says with finality.


	3. Chapter 3

"He's d-e-a-d. That is where he is." Caroline interrupts their conversation.

"I am going to tell you what we are going to do…" Caroline says matter of factly.

"Nothing. Absolutely, freaking nothing." Caroline says with finality.

A continuous loop of Caroline's words had been playing in Bonnie's head like a bad movie soundtrack for the past few hours that was all she had been able to think about all day. Her brother and grandmother had probably called her at least a hundred times in the last few hours. She had yet to pick up the phone and answer any of their calls or even talk things over with Tyler or Matt, soon after Caroline made her announcement Bonnie had to head to class. She had been sitting in the Grille for over an hour staring at her Calculus homework. She had yet to solve a single math problem; her mind had been replaying the events from earlier that morning and the night before. All she could think about was how they left Stefan's seemingly lifeless body on the cold, hard ground, and neglected to get him any help. She couldn't help but think of herself as a murderer now.

"How the hell did my life get so messed up?" She thought to herself as she absentmindedly took a sip of her strawberry milkshake.

"Bons…Bons…Bons...earth to Bonnie Bennett! Yoohoo!" Matt waves his hands in front of Bonnie's face hoping to get a reaction from the caramel skinned girl.

After about a minute, Bonnie realizes Matt is standing in her face, rapidly waving his hand back and forth like a windshield wiper. She shakes her head from side to side, trying to shake loose her nagging thoughts.

"Oh! Sorry Matt, I zoned out for a minute there!" She says as she scoots over to let Matt in the booth.

"I see! Hell, I've been standing here for a good five minutes waiting on you to answer me." He replies as he waves the waitress away before she could reach their table.

"Sorry. I'm just a little out of it today." Bonnie says apologetically.

"I know. We are all out of it today." He places his arms around Bonnie and gives her a tight squeeze and an encouraging smile.

"I just can't get over it. I killed someone last night." She says as she lowers her voice while fidgeting with her strawberry milkshake.

"Don't say that, you don't know that for certain." Matt whispers back as he looks around making sure their conversation isn't overheard by anyone in the restaurant.

"Yes, I do. He was unconscious when we left him there to…to…to…di…die." She says, choking on the last few words barely able to retain her composure in front of her best friend.

"Don't do this to yourself Bonnie. You aren't to blame for this; it was self-defense, just an unfortunate accident." Matt responds while rubbing Bonnie's back soothingly.

"Tell that to the cops." Bonnie says glumly.

"Tell what to the cops?" Caroline says as she walks up to the table.

"Caroline, what are you doing here?" Bonnie asks somewhat annoyed the young woman had interrupted their conversation.

"Uh…duh! I own the joint!" Caroline glibly replies as she gestures to the waitress passing by and orders a burger, fries, and a diet coke.

"Yeah…I keep trying to forget your Dad left this place to you. Too bad it's my only fave place to eat in town and you guys have the best burgers around." Bonnie says mocking Caroline's tone.

"You could find someplace else to hang out, we didn't put a gun to your head and force you to hang out here and eat our food!"

"I know, but the Grille has the best milkshakes in town!" Bonnie squeals in a very, very cheery voice mocking Caroline once again.

"Ummm…girls…go to your respective corners and take a time out please. Now…none of that today, okay ladies?" Matt pleads while trying to keep them from getting into another argument.

"Ok…" Bonnie replies as she takes in a deep breath silently reminding herself why she can't take Caroline's cheery ass out with her new Tae Kwon Do moves she learned last week in class.

"Where's Tyler?" Caroline asks while looking through Bonnie's Calculus homework.

"He should be on his way here now." Matt answers while checking his phone for any messages.

"There he is coming through the door now." Bonnie says excitedly as she skips over to her boyfriend while Caroline rolls her eyes at the scene before her.

"Hi, Boyfriend!" Bonnie says sweetly as she gives Tyler a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Hi, my beautiful girlfriend!" Tyler responds as his lips pucker up to meet Bonnie's.

"Uh…gag me!" Caroline mutters under her breath before she turns her head in disgust.

"Now, now…Caroline jealousy doesn't become you!" Matt snickers trying not to crack up laughing in front of the blonde girl. He just doesn't get why Caroline is jealous of the love birds, hell…she could have any guy she wanted in Mystic Falls, but all she wanted was Tyler. Damn, shame if you ask him, she was too pretty to focus all her energy on a guy who thought of her as nothing but a good friend.

"Shut the fuck up Matt! Go to hell!" Caroline says angrily as she gives Matt a good kick in the shins.

"Owww! That wasn't very nice, Caroline! " Matt yelps while rubbing the sore spot on his leg. She gives him a smug smile and kicks him again in the same spot as she tries not to laugh at Matt's pained expression on his face.

"Lovebirds…can we get started because Matt and I have the dinner rush to get ready for." Caroline loudly interrupts Tyler and Bonnie's greeting.

"What did you call this little meeting for Caroline?" Tyler asks as he slides in the booth next to Bonnie.

"Duh! We all need to get our stories straight Ty." Caroline emphasizes while looking up to meet Tyler and Bonnie's eyes.

"Why?" Bonnie asks as she snatches her Calculus homework from Caroline.

"Because my Mom isn't stupid, Bonnie, she is going to come and question us all; plus I told her I was with you guys last night after I closed the Grille, so…she thinks we were all together until this morning." Caroline explains.

"So…that is our story we all met up at Matt's house last night and watched movies." Tyler supplies.

"Yeah, I guess." Matt replies.

"Sounds good to me…Bonnie?" Caroline stares directly at Bonnie to make sure she is on board with their alibi.

"Bons…" Matt says gently.

"Babe…" Tyler nudges Bonnie's shoulder to get her attention.

"Yeah…yeah…yeah…we were all at Matt's house watching movies." Bonnie finally states as Caroline, Tyler, and Matt release a breath that they hadn't realized they were all holding.

"You better not screw this up, Bennett!" Caroline warns Bonnie sternly.

"Screw what up?" Remy, Bonnie's big brother says as he walks up and interrupts the group's conversation.

"Remy, what are you doing here?" Bonnie asks a little in shock from his sudden appearance.

"Ummm…you forgot something." Remy replies while the rest of the group looks between brother and sister wondering what was going on.

"What did I forget?" Bonnie asks a little confused.

"To…hmmm…let me think…come home last night or heck…to even call us to let us know that you weren't coming home at all! Did you get so caught up in Lockwood here, that you forgot that we…meaning me, Grams, or hell even Ava would be worried sick if you just didn't show up at home!" Remy huffs out while scolding Bonnie as if she was still a 16-year-old girl who stayed out all night with her boyfriend.

"No…I…did…not!" Bonnie replies slowly while seething on the inside from his little tirade. "Who the hell does he think he is?" Bonnie thought to herself. She was so tired of her brother and his overprotectiveness; he needed to be put in his place for once.

Bonnie squared her shoulders and looked her big brother directly in his eyes, and said, "I am a grown woman, Remy, and I resent the fact that you are trying to treat me like I am still 16. You're not Dad, so stop acting like it! Furthermore, if I choose to stay out all night and not call, then that is my business!"

"I know I am not Dad, but he isn't here and someone has to look out for your well-being!" Remy retorts trying to make his sister see his reasoning.

"That is what Grams is for…not you!" Bonnie says a little exasperated by his ambushing her in front of her friends.

"Grams was worried sick about you last night, she hardly slept at all last night. She waited up all night for you!" Remy responds a little too harshly.

"I'm sorry I worried Grams…and you, but Remy, you have to start treating me as an adult." Bonnie states matter of factly trying to stand her ground.

"I guess…" Remy replies as he runs a hand across his face before taking a deep breath, he exhales and then he pulls his sister up out of the booth and gives her a great big bear hug.

"I know you worry about me, but I'm fine. You have to let me grow up Remy. Okay?" Bonnie gently extricates herself from her brother's arms and stands beside him.

"Fine…but I still hope you check in with us from time to time, especially now since they found Stefan Salvatore dead at The Falls this morning. Didn't he used to work here?" Remy asks.

"Yeah he did...but I fired him a few weeks ago." Caroline answers for Bonnie.

"We really didn't know him all that well…he kept to himself mostly." Matt jumps into the conversation.

"Well, the police seem to think someone murdered him last night." Remy states to the group.

"Really…?" Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, and Matt all nervously ask at once.

Bonnie takes a deep breath and says, "Do they have any idea who did it?" Tyler began to rub his girlfriend's back because he could tell she had become very nervous, and he didn't want her to crack in front of her brother.

"No, suspects yet from what I heard…my Mom says they are looking at any and all possible leads." Caroline jumps in again.

"All I can think about is him lying on that cold, hard ground looking so…so…so lifeless!" Bonnie rambles to herself not thinking anyone heard her.

"Bonnie, what are you talking about? How would you know anything about that?" Remy asks trying to understand what Bonnie meant.

"It was on the news!" Caroline instantly supplies, trying to cover Bonnie's slip of the tongue.

"Yeah, yeah…they…uh…slipped it in on the morning broadcast by accident!" Matt says trying to back Caroline's story hoping that Remy wouldn't notice Bonnie's odd behavior.

"Andie Starr will be apologizing about the slip on tonight's evening news…I think." Caroline explains trying to keep the cover going.

"Oh…are you okay lil sis?" Remy finally notices his sister's somewhat erratic behavior. Bonnie was shaking as Tyler tried to rub her back trying to keep her calm. Bonnie was trying to keep her nervousness at bay, but it was not working at all. She just wanted to launch herself in her brother's arms and beg him to make it all go away.

"Yeah…I'm fine Remy. It's just that…that…that death is so…so…hard for me to deal with because…because of Mom you know…" Bonnie finally squeaks out.

Remy nodded his head in understanding and squeezed his sister's hand encouragingly; he understood what she was trying to say without her even having to say anything at all. Their mom, Dara Jensen Bennett, had died of cancer 5 years earlier when Bonnie was just 16 years old. The brother and sister hadn't quite gotten over their mom's death, and he thought they probably never would.

Dara's death had affected her family in many different ways. Derrick, Bonnie's dad, ran off to Africa to help needy families in Doctors Without Borders because he couldn't cope with the grief of his wife's passing so he just threw himself into his work. Remy had automatically assumed all the responsibilities of the family, and that meant raising his little sis and brother while trying to finish Medical school. Bonnie tried to move on with her a life as best she could and that meant college and focusing on her dream of becoming a doctor like her mom, dad, and brother. Even though Dara was her daughter-in-law, Grams took her death hard as well, Dara was the daughter she never had and Sheila Bennett tried to help her family cope as best as she could by giving them her love and support. Jamie, Bonnie's younger brother, was affected the most by his mother's death due to his age because he was just 11 years old at the time, he couldn't understand why his mom had to die, and his dad fleeing the country shortly after his mom's death didn't help the young boy overcome his grief either.

"Bonbon…I know it is still hard even after 5 years…" Remy lamented while giving his lil sis another crushing hug.

"Remy…Remy…Can you let me go please? I can't breathe." Bonnie squeaks out after a few minutes in the bone-crushing hug.

"Sorry sis!" Remy says sheepishly dropping his arms and letting Bonnie go.

"It's okay…" Bonnie steps to the side.

"So, I guess I will see you at home later." Remy says as he leans down and gives Bonnie a kiss on her forehead.

"Uh…actually Bonnie won't be coming home tonight." Caroline interrupts.

"What?" Remy asks while turning to look at Bonnie with a questioning look in his eyes.

Caroline steps forward pulling Bonnie towards her saying, "Bonnie didn't tell you that we are all moving in together this summer!"

Remy scratches his head saying, "Okay…when did you decide this Bonnie?"

"Just this morning!" Caroline interrupts Bonnie before she could say anything.

"Yeah…we all decided to crash at Matt's house for the summer." Tyler explains.

"And Matt's mom is okay with you guys staying at her house for the summer?" Remy asks trying to figure out what was going on with his little sister and her friends.

"Yeah…she's cool with it. She and Vickie went to Florida for the summer to visit family." Matt tries to reassure Remy.

"Well…I guess…that's okay. You know Grams probably won't like this at all, but I will talk to her about it. Okay." Remy relents.

"Uh…thanks, Big Bro." Bonnie finally responds after some nudging from Caroline. Remy gives Bonnie a strange look and kinks his eyebrow at her; she finally gives him a smile, albeit a small one.

"Alright…see you later then…" Remy gives Bonnie one final hug before leaving.

"Bye Bro…I will call you later…" Bonnie dramatically drops down in the booth when Remy exits.

"That was too close…" Tyler breathes a sigh of relief.

"No, thanks to your blabber mouth girlfriend!" Caroline responds harshly.

"Caroline! Cut it out! She didn't mean any harm." Tyler defends his girlfriend.

"Yeah, Care…that was way harsh!" Matt chimes in.

"Guys…I don't need you to defend me, I can defend myself. Caroline is right, I almost blew it big time. You know I am not a really good liar." Bonnie admits.

"I know…that is why we all are going to be together for the next few weeks, so that you won't break down and let your conscience take over and go to the Police." Caroline says matter of factly.

"Uh…I can't be with you 24/7…I just might kill you!" Bonnie threatens.

"Feeling is mutual…Bonbon." Caroline mocks Bonnie's nickname.

"Ladies…ladies…ladies…keep it cute or put that ish on mute." Tyler says mockingly in a girlish voice trying to get the girls to laugh.

Bonnie and Caroline both burst out laughing, look at each other and say in unison, "Bad Girls Club!"

"Huh?" Matt says quite confused because he didn't know what the gag was.

Both girls continued to laugh at Matt's confused look, when a tall, dark, and handsome man walked up to their table and said, "Hi! Sorry to interrupt, but I'm looking for Caroline Forbes."

Caroline stands up quickly saying, "I'm Caroline Forbes…how can I help you?"

"Ms. Forbes, I am Damon." He says while checking out the caramel girl in the booth next to the dark haired boy.

"Well Damon…what can I do for you?" Caroline steps closer to the handsome stranger.

"I need your help Ms. Forbes…well all of your help actually." Damon says as he continues to openly ogle Bonnie as if Tyler wasn't sitting next to Bonnie with his arms around her.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie finally speaks acknowledging the stranger's presence.

"I am here to find out who killed my brother, Stefan. Let me fully introduce myself, I am Damon Salvatore." Damon says to a shocked Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler and Matt.

_**AN: Damon is finally here! Let the games begin! ;)**_


	4. Chapter 4

"I am here to find out who killed my brother, Stefan. Let me fully introduce myself, I am Damon Salvatore." Damon says to a shocked Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler and Matt.

It took several minutes before Bonnie, Caroline, Matt or Tyler could even utter a single word. Tyler was the first one to recover inquiring, "Why are you asking for our help?"

Damon assessed each member of the group, his blue-gray orbs were immediately drawn back to Bonnie's pretty face, and he just couldn't tear his eyes away from the caramel complexioned, green-eyed beauty. In Damon's opinion, she looked like an Egyptian Goddess in her cute colorful maxi dress and her matching two-toned bejeweled sandals with her long black hair neatly pulled into a sleek chignon with fringed bangs adding flavor to her summery look. Damon was so caught up in his perusal of Bonnie that he didn't hear Tyler's question.

After about a minute or so without an answer, Tyler tried to get Damon's attention. "Mr. Salvatore…Mr. Salvatore…Mr. Salvatore…"

"Huh?" Damon asked still in a bit of a daze.

"Ummm…why are you asking for our help?" Tyler repeated himself a little louder than before.

"Oh…yeah…yeah…yeah…I am here to learn more about my brother's last days here, and since you all were his friends, I thought you could help me figure out what really happened to my brother last night, like who murdered him and why." Damon explained shaking his head attempting to pull his thoughts from Bonnie and maintain his focus on the subject at hand.

"I am sorry to burst your bubble, but we weren't his friends." Caroline snapped a little too honestly.

Matt pinched Caroline on her forearm, "Owww! That freaking hurt Matt!" Caroline rubbed her forearm before saying, "I just meant that he worked for me here at the Grille, but we actually didn't hang out like 'that' to call each other friends."

Damon stared at Caroline bizarrely before responding, "Well…Ms. Forbes, that is not the impression that he had of all of you, and from my knowledge he considered you all to be his good friends."

"Oh…" The group responded in unison not really knowing what else to say to the dark haired stranger.

"He pretty much kept to himself mostly…uh…he really didn't socialize that much with us outside of work." Matt said trying to break the imposing silence that had fallen upon them.

"And you are…?" Damon asked trying to discern the strange vibe amongst the four tight-knit friends.

"I'm Matt Donovan…I am the Grille's Night Shift Manager." He extended his hand out to Damon for a handshake as Damon did the same in return.

"This is Bonnie Bennett and Tyler Lockwood…our good friends and some of the Grille's regular customers." Matt finished the introductions for everyone.

"Nice to meet all of you…" Damon's eyes gradually drifted back to Bonnie of their own accord; he just could not seem to stop gawking at her lovely face. He just wanted to bask in the glow and warmth emanating from her entire being. "It's like bathing in sun light." He thought to himself.

Bonnie's smile lit up her face as she politely said, "Nice meeting you too, Mr. Salvatore. I just wish it was under better circumstances." Bonnie could not help but feel bad because she knew she was the reason that Damon was even here in the first place, her smile gradually slipped from her pretty face as she thought about her role in Stefan Salvatore's demise.

"Yeah, we are all sorry about your brother." Tyler interjected while placing his arms possessively around Bonnie's shoulder. He wasn't blind, he had noticed Damon Salvatore practically eye-fucking his girlfriend ever since he first walked in the door and appeared before them. He hoped Damon would get the fucking picture, stop making goo-goo eyes at his damn girlfriend, say what he needed to say and get the hell out of the Grille.

Damon ignored Tyler's feeble attempt at possessiveness, and directed his penetrating gaze right back to Bonnie, even giving her an encouraging smile, "Thanks...Miss Bennett are you okay?"

"Ummm…yes…yes, I am fine." Bonnie turned toward Damon and gave him a weak, tremulous smile in return.

"We would be happy to help in any way we can." Caroline tugged on Damon's arm to regain his attention, knowing that Bonnie was this fucking close to singing like a fat ass yellow canary perched on a swing with a full audience, "But we don't know much of anything…the last time I saw your brother was a couple of days ago when he asked me for his job back."

"You fired my brother?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah…you didn't know that?" Caroline kinked her eyebrows at Damon in disbelief.

"No…Stefan never mentioned anything about it to me or to the family." Damon had been thrown for a serious loop with this little tidbit of information, his brother for some reason or another chose not to enlighten his family about this recent development in his life. "I wonder why?" Damon thought to himself.

"Oh…well yeah…ummm…I caught him selling drugs to this creepy looking guy out back behind the dumpster while he was working the late night shift about a week ago." Caroline explained rather quickly.

"Caroline…!" Matt admonished while Bonnie gave Caroline a good, hard pinch on her forearm.

"Owww…Bonnie! What? Damn…he's going to find out anyway, might as well spill the beans now!" She justified still rubbing the now sore spot on her forearm, Bonnie happened to pinch her in the exact same spot as Matt had a few minutes earlier.

"Thank you…Miss Forbes for being sooo… frank with me." Damon kinked his eyebrows at Bonnie giving her a questioning look, Bonnie for her part looked away embarrassed by Caroline's candor and lack of tact. Damon could not quite figure out what was going on between the foursome; he knew they were keeping something from him, but he just couldn't put his finger on what that was just yet.

"Sorry…just thought you should know the truth." Caroline responded sheepishly.

"The truth is we don't know anything about your brother or what may have happened to him last night." Tyler jumped in hoping to hurry the stranger along and get him away from his girlfriend.

"But we will help in any way we can." Matt added trying to make nice with the dangerous ebony-haired stranger.

"Just let us know and we will do whatever we can." Caroline finished up with a small smile that didn't quite reach hers eyes.

"Well…thanks for all your help. I will be in touch…soon. Nice meeting you all…" Damon glanced at Bonnie once more before walking out the door.

"Damn…I can't take this! This is too much pressure for one person!" Caroline exclaimed before dramatically collapsing in the booth.

"What…what…what are we going to do now?" Bonnie asked a little unnerved by the look she had just received from Damon as he walked out the door.

"We are going to do nothing Bennett…like I said earlier!" Caroline said a little too harshly.

"Care…I know you are on edge because of Salvatore, but don't take it out on Bonnie." Tyler gave her a reprimanding look.

"Okay…okay! Sorry…dang!" Caroline apologized quickly to appease Tyler. She hated when he was mad at her.

"So what are we going to do?" Matt asked after a few minutes of silence. He was hoping that someone would come up with a more solid plan than just keeping silent.

"I guess we just stick together and no one breathes a word to anyone about that night. Okay?" Caroline said with an exaggerated sigh.

"Yeah…" Tyler answered not being able to come up with anything else.

"Alright…" Matt agreed turning to his best friend for acquiesce.

"Bonnie?" Tyler stared at his girlfriend hoping that she would stick with the plan Caroline came up with.

"Uh…yes…okay." Bonnie finally acquiesces, not really knowing what else to do in this situation.

"Good…so we all agree to stick together no matter what and to keep our lips zipped." Caroline dramatically moved her hands across her mouth in a zipping motion while Tyler, Bonnie, and Matt nodded their heads in agreement.

"Crap! I have a study group tonight." Bonnie said as she rushed to gather her books and messenger bag praying that she could make it to the library on time, she had completely forgotten about her study group with all the upheaval in her life.

"I'll drive you." Tyler offered hopping up from the booth grabbing his keys and cell phone.

"Thanks…babe." Bonnie replied distractedly while trying to make sure she didn't forget anything.

"Well…Matt and I have the dinner rush coming in a few minutes, so I guess we can all meet up here later after we close the Grille." Caroline instructed while getting up from the booth.

"Okay." Bonnie and Tyler agreed before walking out of the door leaving Caroline and Matt to get to work.

_***The Rustle of the Sheets***_

Caroline Forbes was bone tired; the dinner rush had completely kicked her ass. She sat at her desk tallying up the night's receipts when there was a knock on her office door.

"Come in…" Caroline said without looking up from the adding machine.

"Caroline…"

"Yes." Caroline finally looked up to see who had walked in her office.

"Ummm…can we talk?" The young man nervously asked.

"Sure Ben…what's up?" Caroline asked intrigued by Ben's question.

"Uh…I don't know how to say this." Ben scratched his head looking a little perplexed.

"Just spit it out man! Damn!" Caroline said a little exasperated by the beginning of the conversation.

"Ummm…I quit!" Ben spat out quickly.

"What? Excuse me?" Caroline asked a little taken back by Ben's words and demeanor.

"I said I quit! I can't work for you anymore!" Ben's face was starting to color a ghastly shade of red and he had noticed his hands had begun to sweat; he was hoping to get through this as painless as possible because he knew his neck was on the line. Damon Salvatore was nothing to play with, and if The Salvatores wanted something, most of the time they got it. Damon wanted him to quit his job then that was just what he was going to do, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

"But…but…but…why…?" Caroline stammered reeling from the shock of Ben's admission.

"Uh…can't say…I quit that's all." Ben began backing out of the room quickly after that.

"Wait…you can't just quit on me like that! I need time to at least find another bartender for the night shift." Caroline whined.

"I'm sorry…Caroline, but I…uh…I got another gig on the other side of town and…yeah, yeah…they need me to start ASAP!" Ben continued towards the bar grabbing his things in one swift motion.

"Really…? You got another gig. Huh? I bet...my tight little ass you did!" Caroline screamed after Ben throwing a glass at the door, just narrowly missing Ben's head as the door slammed shut.

"Fuck…fuck…fuck!" Caroline could not believe her luck. "Could it get any worse?" She thought to herself

"Such ugly and vile words coming from such a pretty girl…"

"Mr. Salvatore…you startled me!" Caroline spat as she held her hands against her chest trying to stop her heart from jumping out of her chest.

"Sorry, Ms. Forbes I didn't mean to startle you." Damon said smoothly as he made his way through the door, to the bar, taking a seat.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked suspiciously, trying to figure out what Damon's game plan was.

"I…uh…came by to ask you if you had…ummm…heard anything else about my brother's death." Damon said while looking around the darkened, empty restaurant.

"Oh." Caroline replied not really knowing what else to say the man. He unnerved her for some reason; maybe it was because he had a dangerous edge to him that made him seem almost predatory.

"You know, you should keep your doors locked when you're not open for business. It isn't safe for a young woman to be left alone in a restaurant at this time of night with the front doors unlocked and cash in the safe. Any sort of rift-raft could come strolling in and try to hurt you and take whatever money you've earned for the night." Damon said menacingly.

"I know, Mr. Salvatore. I am usually pretty careful about keeping the doors locked, but my ass hole of a bartender for the night shift just up and quit on me tonight! That is why the doors were unlocked because the selfish bastard had tucked his tail between his legs and just ran out of here, no never mind about me or my safety! Now, what the hell am I supposed to do? How am I even going to find a new bartender this quickly?" Caroline rambled on walking back and forth behind the bar trying to think of what to do next now that she had no bartender.

"Ms. Forbes…"

"Maybe…I can ask Matt even though he sucks at making mixed drinks if he could cover for a few days until I can find a suitable replacement." Caroline continued to ramble forgetting that Damon was even there.

"Caroline…Caroline…Caroline…!" Damon finally walks behind the bar after a few minutes and roughly grabs Caroline by the shoulders to capture her attention.

"What? What in the hell did you do that for?" Caroline asked wondering what his problem was and why was he even putting his hands on her like that.

"Hell…I have been trying to get your attention for several minutes." Damon said a little frustrated by the blonde woman's short attention span.

"Oh…"

"I think I have a solution to your problem."

"What is that?"

"I…uh…know a good bartender."

"Who…?" Caroline asked a little curious for his answer.

"Me." Damon said pointing to his chest with a slight smirk on his handsome face.

"You…?" Caroline asked before bursting out laughing.

"Yeah…! Me. What is so funny?" Damon asked just a little perplexed by the young woman's odd behavior.

"Uh…Mr. Salvatore…no offense, but have you even worked before? Hell, do you even know how to mix drinks?" Caroline questioned not quite convinced with Damon's offer.

"Hell...yeah, I have worked before! I worked for my uncle at his ristorante in Italy every summer when I was in college, that's where I learned how to bartend." He states kind of offended by Caroline's attitude and questions.

"Oh…okay." Caroline replied exaggeratedly trying to humor Damon.

"I am serious, Ms. Forbes. I want to be your new bartender." Damon said seriously before mixing Caroline the best Amaretto Sour she had ever tasted.

"Well…I…I…yum…yum…this is really good!" Caroline stammered out trying the delicious concoction Damon set in front of her.

"Thanks…and this way I can keep an eye and an ear out for any info that may filter in about my brother's death." Damon explains as Caroline began to choke on her drink.

"Uh…okay…I guess you are the new bartender then." Caroline sputtered out spilling the drink on her blouse.

"What?" Tyler asked incredulously as he walked through the Grille's unlocked front door with Bonnie and Matt in tow.

"Mr. Salvatore here has graciously offered to be our new bartender after that rat, Ben, quit on me tonight." Caroline said with a perkiness she did not quite feel.

"Oh…really…!" Tyler said cutting his eyes at Damon.

"Yeah…Ms. Forbes was in need, so like she said I graciously offered my services." Damon said smoothly while trying to get a peek at Bonnie over Tyler's shoulder.

"Well that was very kind of you." Matt said trying to break the tension in the room. He could tell Tyler wanted to bark at Damon about his constant perusal of Bonnie. Matt knew Tyler did not like the looks Damon was giving his girlfriend and he was trying to keep everyone nice and calm.

"Well…I better go since now I have to get a good night's rest for my first day at work tomorrow." Damon said rather smugly before walking from behind the bar keeping his eyes on Bonnie.

"Well…good night Mr. Salvatore." Caroline says a little too cheery.

"Good night. Ms. Bennett nice seeing you again..." Damon murmured before taking one last glance in Bonnie's direction before leaving.

"Ms. Bennett nice seeing you again…" Tyler mocked Damon as soon as the door closed.

"Tyler!" Bonnie admonishes while shaking her head disapprovingly at Tyler's behavior.

"What? Babe…I just don't like that guy!" Tyler stated unapologetically.

"That doesn't mean you act disrespectful towards the guy!" Bonnie continued to reprimand Tyler about his behavior.

"I know, okay. Babe…he just rubs me the wrong way with the constant stares that he gives you." Tyler explained.

"I can't help that babe, but you can't give him any reason to suspect any of us." Bonnie responded putting her arms around Tyler and giving him an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, now more than ever…especially since he will be working here." Caroline said letting out a loud sigh unable to get over tonight's events.

"Ummm…how did you let that happen?" Tyler asked accusingly pointing his fingers at Caroline.

"I didn't let anything happen. He just strolled right in after that bastard, Ben, ran out of here without so much as a goodbye and said he had a solution to my problem." Caroline defended.

"A problem he caused no doubt." Matt surmised.

"You think Damon was the reason Ben quit?" Bonnie asked in surprise.

"I bet my YSL boots on that fact!" Caroline answered before releasing another sigh. She just could not shake that feeling of impending doom.

"This is not good at all." Bonnie stated hugging her boyfriend, "Not good at all."

_**AN: DAMON WORKING AT THE GRILLE…UH OH! SORRY THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO LONG, IT WAS JUST A BITCH TO WRITE. I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE IT. JUST LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.**_


	5. Chapter 5

Bonnie sat hunched over in the red and white striped booth trying to finish her Biochemistry II Lab report that was due in a couple of hours. Bonnie had been operating under little to no sleep for the past few days, since she had been crashing at Matt's house it had completely thrown off her study habits. She usually studied at the library but the library closed early during summer session. So she really only had a few options either a) study at the library during daylight hours, b) study in the evening at Matt's house, or c) study at the Grille whenever she had spare time. She chose option c because she never had time to make it to the library during the day and she could not study at night because she never could seem to get any quiet alone time to study at Matt's house. Caroline's incessant yammering and Matt and Tyler's constant gaming left her with very little time to herself, so she decided her best option was to try and get some work done at the Grille. She was so into her Biochem Lab that she didn't realize Damon had been speaking to her.

"Bonnie…Bonnie…uh…hey there sexy mama…!" Damon tried and failed to get Bonnie's attention.

"Huh? What did you just call me?" Bonnie asked a little perturbed that he interrupted her while she was in the middle of her lab report.

"Oh…I said 'hey sexy mama'!" Damon smirked at Bonnie before giving her his usual once over. Bonnie had noticed that Damon would stare at her a lot during his shifts and he made himself available to take her order whenever she arrived at the Grille.

"Don't say things like that to me." Bonnie replied a little peeved at his forwardness.

"Why? You are one sexy mama!" Damon had the nerve to smirk and wink at Bonnie before he burst out laughing. He was trying to break Bonnie out of her dark mood she had been in the last day or so.

Bonnie didn't find his joke the least bit funny. "Yuck…yuck…yuck! So funny…not!" Bonnie said mockingly.

"What? I was just trying to lighten up the mood. Damn!" Damon shrugged his shoulders at the young petite girl.

"Damn…even in sweats she looks good." Damon thought to himself as he examined Bonnie's outfit. Bonnie was dressed in her pink PINK by Victoria's Secret sweats, a white sleeveless tee, and an over-sized grey Mystic Falls University sweatshirt that was draped over her pecan tan shoulders with her long dark hair tied in a loose bun at the nape of her neck.

"Not to be rude or anything, but what do you want?" Bonnie asked tapping her pen against the countertop.

"Wow…I just wanted to know if you were actually getting any work done." Damon lifted his arms up in a cease-fire gesture.

"I would be if people would just leave me alone!" Bonnie huffed out while giving Damon the death glare.

"Damn! Touchy…touchy…Bon, Bon!" Damon continued to try to lighten Bonnie's bad mood by using her nickname. He had heard Matt call Bonnie that a few times and it always brought a real smile to Bonnie's pretty face whenever Matt called her by her nickname.

"I have a lab report due in less than two hours and you are keeping me from it!" Bonnie snapped a little on edge from her recent sleepless nights.

"Oh…what lab are you taking, maybe I can help." Damon stated hoping to ease the young woman's load; he could tell she was a little on edge.

"Biochemistry II Lab." Bonnie ground out. Damon was starting to work her nerves. Shit, she had work to do! "He better find someone else to toy with because I ain't in the mood!" Bonnie thought to herself.

"Oh. Do you have Dr. Saltzman?" Damon asked.

"Yeah, I do. How did you know that?" Bonnie finally glanced up from her computer screen.

"Ric and I go way back. We went to college together." Damon said matter-of-factly.

"Ric…? I thought his first name was Alaric." Bonnie said kind of confused.

"Alaric is his first name, but he goes by Ric." Damon explained putting a drink down in front of Bonnie.

"Oh, okay. But I still don't understand what that has to do with my Biochem Lab."

"Oh, yeah…I could talk to Ric for you, ask him for an extension." Damon smiled at Bonnie hoping that he would get a smile in return.

No such luck as Bonnie went back to typing on the computer, "Thanks, but no thanks."

"Why?" Damon queried.

"Because I don't need you doing me any kind of favors." Bonnie replied.

Damon poked his lip out and made puppy dog eyes at Bonnie, "You hurt my feelings."

"Oh well…I've got work to do and so do you." Bonnie ignored Damon's pouting.

"I still don't understand how you can get any work done here anyways. Hell! How did a nice girl like you end up here in the first place?" Damon demanded.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Bonnie looked up and kinked her eyebrows at Damon.

"I am trying to say that you are too nice of a girl to be studying in a joint like this. You know the obvious noise and constant interruptions."

"The noise doesn't bother me. Hell, I can study almost anywhere now, thanks to Caroline's constant chatter, Tyler and Matt's loud ass video games, and my new handy-dandy earplugs. This place is pretty quiet when Caroline is not around, as for the constant interruptions…" Bonnie stared directly at Damon when she said the last part.

Damon busted out laughing, "You are a real riot Bon, Bon!"

"You are a big barrel of laughs yourself. Now, can I get back to work?" Bonnie asked sarcastically.

"Sure…I just have to ask one more question." Damon said a little too seriously.

"What is that?" Bonnie shivered a little from the change in Damon's voice.

"Why do you cringe every time I look at you?" Damon asked a little too bluntly.

"What?" Bonnie asked a little shocked by Damon's question.

"I said why do you cringe every time I look at you or make a move towards you?" Damon repeated himself while inching closer to Bonnie to gauge her reaction.

"I don't cringe whenever you look at me!" Bonnie replied as her voice shook slightly. Damon's close proximity had her completely unnerved.

"Your voice and body language say differently. Is it because of my brother?" Damon asked carefully.

"No…why…why would your brother matter?" Bonnie asked nervously. "Calm down, Bonnie! He doesn't know anything." Bonnie gave herself a silent pep talk.

"Oh come now, Bonnie! I'm not stupid! My brother told me about you two." Damon narrowed his eyes at Bonnie hoping to see the truth in her green cat-like eyes.

"What?" Bonnie began to laugh uncontrollably. "You thought…your brother and I…" Bonnie managed to get out between giggles.

"What is so funny?" Damon was a little thrown off by her sudden laughter; he couldn't tell if she was laughing from nervousness or the mere thought of her and his brother.

"Woo…you thought your brother and I…seriously? I have a boyfriend in case you forgot. Furthermore, I resent your insinuation. I am not that kind of girl!" Bonnie stated a little heatedly.

"Well…maybe Stefan had it wrong. I'm sorry…" Damon tried to apologize.

"Whatever…I have to get back to my report." Bonnie opened her laptop backup and began to pound on the keyboard in frustration.

"I meant what I said…I don't want you cringing every time I come near you, Bonnie. I hope we can be friends." Damon held out his hand hoping that Bonnie would shake it in return. Damon was just striking out with Bonnie because she continued to pound on the keyboard totally ignoring him.

"I just hope you aren't too mad about what my brother said. He was a good guy, just a little misunderstood. That's all." Damon didn't know why he felt the need to defend Stefan's actions to Bonnie, but he did.

Bonnie continued to ignore Damon, "Look, Bonnie, I know that I make you a little uncomfortable, but I just want you to know that I am not here to hurt you, but to find my brother's killer. I hope that one day we could be friends."

Bonnie finally acknowledged Damon's words with a slight nod of her head, "Well, I will let you get back to work, and I will even put in a good word for you with Ric." Damon slid out of the booth letting Bonnie get back to her lab report.

_***The Rustle of the Sheets***_

It had been two weeks since Stefan Salvatore's death, and Bonnie could not seem to get over it. She constantly thought about the young life that was taken by her own hands. Her hands…Bonnie stared at her hands seeing a dark crimson shade of red drip down her arms.

"Bonnie...Bonnie!"

"Huh?" Bonnie finally asked.

"Are you okay?"

"Why?"

"Because you have been constantly staring at your hands for a whole hour now…" Damon explained a little worried by Bonnie's erratic behavior.

"Oh…" Bonnie sighed inwardly.

"I thought I was supposed to be the sad one." Damon tried to make a joke but it fell flat.

"Ummm…I am so, so sorry about your brother." Bonnie lamented suddenly over-whelmed by feelings of remorse.

"Really…then why didn't you show up to his funeral?" Damon questioned. This had been irking him all week and he just had to ask why she didn't show up for Stefan's funeral. Damon definitely thought Bonnie would have shown up to pay her respects to the family, but she didn't and that really bothered him for some reason.

"I…uh…I don't know!" Bonnie stammered out not quite knowing what else to say to Damon.

"I think you do!" Damon responded a little too quickly.

"When was his funeral?" Bonnie inquired uneasily.

"It was last Saturday. No one and I mean no one from the Grille bothered to show up." Damon spat out angered by the apathy of his brother's co-workers.

"I'm sorry, Damon. I didn't know." Bonnie felt terrible, she had been so caught up in her own guilt that she missed Stefan's funeral.

"I guess Caroline was being truthful, my brother really didn't have any friends." Damon proclaimed sadly hoping against hope that Caroline was wrong.

"That's not true. I am sure Stefan had lots of friends." Bonnie hoped that wasn't the case and that Stefan did have some friends at least.

"Were you one of them, Bonnie?" Damon swung his penetrating gaze back to Bonnie.

"I didn't know Stefan that well." Bonnie was suddenly swept with an over whelming feeling of dread. She didn't know where Damon's line of questioning was going, but she knew it wasn't any place good.

"Well…see, I think you did." Damon spat out.

"What?" Bonnie was totally shocked by Damon's last statement.

"Bonnie, I think you are lying…lying to protect someone." Damon stared directly at Bonnie hoping to gain some truth from her eyes.

"What? Lying? To protect someone…?" Bonnie asked incredulously.

"Yes…Bonnie, I think you are withholding the truth? I think you may know more about that night than you let on." Damon continued to toy with Bonnie.

"I…I..I don't know what you are talking about!" Bonnie stammered out. "Oh lord…he knows!" Bonnie thought as she began to silently panic.

"Yes, you do!" Damon stated plainly.

"No, I don't!" Bonnie retorted rather loudly. Her voice rising as her hysteria mounted.

"Yes, Bonnie, I think you do. See I have a theory. Do you want to hear it? I know you do." Damon continued, as Bonnie became teary-eyed nodding her head no.

Damon continued while shaking his head yes, "I think your boyfriend, Tyler Lockwood, killed my brother to protect you."

_**AN: Uh..oh! What is Bonnie going to do now? Will she tell Damon the truth to protect Tyler? **_


	6. Chapter 6

Damon continued while shaking his head yes, "I think your boyfriend, Tyler Lockwood, killed my brother to protect you."

Damon's words were like ice water in Bonnie's veins, she could not believe what Damon was insinuating about Tyler. Bonnie had quickly denied Damon's outlandish claims, but Damon wasn't fooled at all by Bonnie's protests. He had a gut feeling that Bonnie knew more than she had been letting on about that fateful night, and he set out to prove his theory that Tyler Lockwood did indeed kill his brother. Damon put his plan in action a week later when he saw Bonnie once again studying at the Grille. While Tyler was talking to Matt, Damon sauntered over to Bonnie once again interrupting her studying.

"Hey Bons. Whatcha doin'?" Damon gave Bonnie one of his signature smirks while tapping his hands on the table.

"What does it look like? I'm studying!" Bonnie spat back giving Damon a sarcastic smile in return.

"Oh…" Damon slowly mouthed the "O" aggravating Bonnie even more.

"What do you want Damon?" Bonnie angrily asked, silently hoping that Damon would just suddenly disappear so that she could get back to her Anatomy and Physiology notes.

"Nothing…I just wanted to apologize for my behavior last week." Damon knew that Bonnie had been avoiding him ever since he dropped his little theory on her about Tyler being Stefan's killer.

"Okay...you've apologized. Now…what?" Bonnie put her notecards on the table giving Damon her full attention.

"I want us to be friends…no hard feelings…ok?" Damon hoped that Bonnie would take the bait.

"No hard feelings? No hard feelings?" Bonnie asked unable to believe what she was hearing.

"You…you practically accuse my boyfriend of killing your brother to protect me, and now you want us to be friends! Are you kidding me? No hard feelings? You've got some real nerve Damon Salvatore!" Bonnie exclaimed a little too loudly.

Her rant drew everyone's attention to the pair so Damon lowered his voice before he said, "Calm down! I am just trying to apologize all right! If I offended you, then I am sorry!"

"What the hell is going on?" Tyler said before getting up in Damon's face.

"Nothing Ty…" Bonnie quickly got in between the two men trying to prevent a fight.

"Yeah…like Sweet Cheeks said 'nothing Ty'…" Damon had to play it just right to elicit the reaction that he needed.

"Sweet Cheeks? Why I ought to beat the hell out of you right now?" Tyler balled up his fist getting even closer to Damon just waiting for the right moment to knock his smug ass out.

"I want to see you try Brat!" Damon retorted a little too smugly, his smart-alecky grin never once dropping from his handsome face.

"Brat? I'll show you a brat!" Tyler spat before taking a swing at Damon's head.

Luckily, Matt stepped in to block Tyler's blow before he said, "Tyler, man…calm the fuck down! This is a place of business and you are making a scene!"

"Babe…calm down…please!" Bonnie pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"Sorry…Babe but this asshole is looking to catch a beat down!" Tyler growled out ignoring Bonnie's silent pleas with her teary eyes.

"Asshole? Come on you can do better than that! I see that private school education did nothing for your vocabulary!" Damon's smirk just got bigger as he continued to egg on Tyler.

"Salvatore…back off!" Matt tried to push Tyler to the back.

"Donovan…so now you're going to fight your friend's battles!" Damon knew that if he continued to push that would send Tyler right over the edge, thus proving his theory.

"Look man, I don't have any beef with you, but Tyler is my friend and I think you need to go before this thing escalates." Matt stated calmly.

"Ok…I'll go, but…one more thing before I do…" Damon swiftly spun Bonnie around to face him and placed his ruby red lips smack dab onto Bonnie's cherry-flavored glossy lips, giving her a coma-inducing kiss! Bonnie for her part was so shocked by Damon's brash move that she didn't realize at first that she was kissing him back until she heard Tyler's growl, that slowly brought Bonnie right back down to planet Earth.

"Grrrr…I'm going to kill that motherfucker!" Tyler damn near jumped the counter trying to get at Damon.

"No…Tyler!" Bonnie and Caroline yelled in unison hoping that Matt would be enough to stop Tyler from trying to kill Damon.

Matt tackled Tyler before he could reach Damon, "Salvatore…get the fuck out of here now before I turn him loose!"

Damon burst out laughing before he said, "Turn him loose? Please, you think I'm scared of this little punk...I think not!"

"Damon, please go before someone gets hurt!" Bonnie eyes silently pleaded with Damon before he finally relented, threw his hands up in the air, and slowly walked out of the front door.

"This isn't over Lockwood…" Damon took a parting shot before exiting the Grille.

"Damn right! This isn't over Salvatore!" Tyler yelled in returned before slinging Matt's arm off him.

"Tyler…calm the fuck down! People are staring...have you forgotten who your family is?" Matt growled out becoming more and more aggravated by Tyler's cave man behavior.

"Calm down? Really? He kissed my fucking girlfriend! I have a right to be angry!" Tyler wanted to bash that fucker's head in for even daring to put his lips on Bonnie.

"Yeah…you do, but you don't need to act an ass in public. You know that shit's going to get back to your Dad!" Matt tried to reason.

"Hell, and my Mom too...!" Caroline piped in.

"You have got to remain calm Tyler! You can't be giving Salvatore anymore reason to suspect you more than he already does." Matt continued to try to be the voice of reason for Tyler.

Bonnie tried to soothe Tyler's ruffled feathers, "Babe…you know that kiss didn't mean anything. He was just trying to get you riled up to prove a point."

"And he did." Tyler stated glumly.

"Babe…I love you! You are the man that I want and that kiss didn't mean a thing." Bonnie pulls Tyler to her and places a chaste kiss on his lips before putting her arms around his neck.

"A kiss always means something!" Caroline blurted out without thinking.

"Caroline!" Matt just could not believe Caroline had just said that, sometimes Caroline's mouth needed a mute button.

"What?" Caroline shrugged her shoulders feigning innocence.

"You're not helping!" Bonnie snapped giving Caroline a deathly stare while silently praying for a tornado to come and carry the big mouth blonde away.

"Sorry…geesh!" Caroline threw her hands up before walking away.

Matt let out a loud sigh before he said, "Ty…man you've got to let this go for all our sakes man!"

Tyler kissed Bonnie on her forehead before he finally relented, "Alright! Alright! I will let it go this time, but if that motherfucker tries anything else, then that's his ass!"

"He won't try anything else, babe!"

"I hope so!" Matt had a very, very bad feeling about this, he knew things could only get worse from here on out.

_***The Rustle of the Sheets***_

It had been two weeks since the "incident" and Bonnie's life had gotten progressively worse, Damon was doing all he could to prove his theory about Tyler true. He had gotten, Ric, his friend and Bonnie's Biochemistry Professor to admit him in his other class that Bonnie was taking during Summer Session C; Damon was now Bonnie's Lab partner. Tyler did not take Damon's intrusion into Bonnie's life too well, he swore that before summer's end he was going to whip Damon's ass. Bonnie tried to ignore Damon as best she could but that was proving to be harder than she thought, Damon seemed to be everywhere she went lately.

"Babe…what are you doing up this early?" Tyler kissed Bonnie on her forehead.

"Mmmm…I'm trying to get some studying done." Bonnie responded before properly giving Tyler a morning kiss.

"Uhh! Why do I have to wake up to this? Can the early morning porno moments please!" Caroline jealously spat.

"Ummm…no porno moments…we are strictly PG!" Bonnie responded cheerily.

"That's the problem…if Tyler was my man it would be strictly NC-17!" Caroline bragged before Bonnie harshly yanked her blonde ponytail.

"Owww…that fucking hurt Bonnie…!" Caroline yanked Bonnie's ponytail really, hard in return.

"Ladies…Ladies…Ladies…it is too damn early for all this Bad Girls Club/Basketball Wives behavior. You may continue the catfight after I've had my morning coffee." Matt said jokingly trying to break the tension in the room.

Both Caroline and Bonnie burst into laughter before saying, "No more TV for you Mattykins!"

"Ha…Ha…really funny…!" Matt said before tossing two pillows at the girls.

There was a knock at the door.

"Is someone knocking on the door?" Tyler asked straining to hear.

"Who could it be at this hour?" Bonnie asked before walking to the door and opening it.

Bonnie was surprised to see Damon standing on Matt's doorstep, Damon stepped to Bonnie and planted a toe-curling kiss on her lips. Bonnie just stood there helpless to Damon's assault on her lips, again she hadn't realized that she was kissing Damon back until she heard Tyler's growl.

"Mornin' Sexy…" Damon smirked after letting Bonnie go, he knew he had really pissed Tyler off with that kiss.

"Motherfucker…!" Tyler screamed before launching himself at Damon.

Bonnie still in somewhat of a daze said, "Why did you do that?"

"You know why Bonnie." Damon retorted smugly satisfied with himself.

"No Damon, I don't know why you did that!" Bonnie replied unknowingly touching her slightly bruised lips.

"I'm going to kill this motherfucker! Let me go Matt!" Tyler yelled trying to get out of Matt's grasp.

"Don't be mad TyTy Baby…it was just a little experiment!" Damon antagonized Tyler even more knowing that he was almost at his breaking point.

"What kind of experiment?" Caroline asked not knowing what to make of the situation, but she knew that Matt couldn't hold Tyler off for long.

"Bonnie didn't tell you…we are Lab partners…I'm taking this upper level Psychology class and Bon, Bon is my lab partner!" Damon explained all too happily.

"What? This fucker is in your classes now! When were you going to tell me?" Tyler screamed at Bonnie.

"Babe…please calm down! I was going to tell you, but I know you wouldn't take it well!" Bonnie tried explaining

"How fucking long?" Tyler ground out in frustration.

"A little over a week…" Bonnie hung her head knowing that Tyler was furious with her for keeping that small tidbit from him.

"Yeah…you didn't know…mmmm….trouble in paradise?" Damon continued to taunt Tyler.

"Go to hell Salvatore!" Tyler spat back.

"Well my work here is done! I proved my theory right." Damon stated satisfied with his performance.

"What theory is that?" Caroline asked trying to figure out what Damon's game was.

"My theory that Tyler would do just about anything to protect his property." Damon shot back.

"What the hell are you talking about Salvatore?" Caroline asked a little confused.

"Tyler would do anything and I mean anything to keep Bon, Bon all to himself…like for instance commit murder!" Damon continued to stare Tyler down with his self-satisfied grin.

"Tyler would never hurt anyone!" Bonnie whaled just about at her breaking point.

Caroline knew that Matt couldn't hold Tyler back any longer so she said, "Damon, can I see you outside please?"

"Sure Care bear." Damon replied a little too gleeful.

Caroline and Damon stepped out on the porch, "Damon, are you insane?"

"No." Damon responded with a straight face.

"Then what the hell are you trying to do? You come in and kiss his girlfriend, not once but twice. How the hell else is he supposed to react?" Caroline snarked.

"Like a man and not an animal…" Damon replied a little too smugly.

"Come on man…you would act that way too…" Caroline said defensively.

"Maybe...for the right girl…and Bonnie Bennett is definitely the right girl." Damon said a little dreamily.

"You too…uh…how does she do it?" Caroline wondered aloud.

"That's how I definitely know that Tyler Lockwood killed my brother because if Bonnie Bennett was my girl I would kill too to keep motherfuckers away from her!" Damon admitted wholeheartedly.

"Well, I can vouch for Tyler he didn't kill your brother, Damon." Caroline tried and failed to sway Damon's opinion.

"I'm sorry, Caroline, I just don't fucking believe you!" Damon replied before picking up his phone.

"Well it's the truth whether you want to believe or not!" Caroline shot back before leaving Damon on the porch.

"What?" Damon snapped.

"Have you figured out who killed your brother yet?"

"I'm still working on it!" Damon replied a little uneasy.

"You've got 48 hours to figure it out or all those kids are dead!"

_**AN: Uh oh! What will Damon do now that Bonnie's life may be on the line?**_


	7. Chapter 7

"Bons…tell me the truth…I can take it." Tyler said while sticking a French fry in his mouth.

"Tell you the truth about what?" Bonnie asked confused taking a sip of her Coke.

"About what Damon has been doing to you?" Tyler stared directly at Bonnie hoping she would be truthful with him about Damon's behavior.

"It's nothing." Bonnie replied nervously. She just wished he would drop it already. She knew that Damon's kiss had been bothering Tyler, but she hoped he would've gotten over it by now. It had been a few days since Damon's "mornin'sexy" kiss ambush.

"It is something!" Tyler exclaimed a little too loudly.

"Shuhhh…! Ty…lower your voice, people are starting to stare!" Bonnie admonished.

"Sorry, babe…but…I need you to be honest with me. What has Damon Salvatore been doing to you?" Tyler pleaded.

"Nothing…babe…it's nothing." Bonnie played with her straw before looking up at Tyler.

"You're lying Bonnie!" Tyler threw down his burger.

"No, I'm not! See…this is exactly why I didn't tell you that he was in my class! Because I knew you would get upset!" Bonnie placed her hand over Tyler's hand, rubbing circles on his palm; she knew that this was soothing to Tyler and that it would eventually calm him down.

"I'm not upset with you, babe! I'm just frustrated by how he has managed to weasel his way into our lives!" Tyler tried explaining before picking his burger back up and continuing to eat.

"Tyler, he is just trying to figure out who killed his brother." Bonnie shivered thinking about Damon finding out the truth about Stefan's death.

"Oh, really…uh huh…and steal my girl while he's at it." Tyler couldn't wait to beat the creep's ass. Tyler didn't understand why Damon was always around staring at Bonnie with this stupid ass smirk on his face like now. Tyler wanted to go over to that counter and rip his fucking face off for even daring to look Bonnie's way.

"Damon…Damon…Damon…" Caroline called out.

"Huh?" Damon murmured never taking his eyes off Bonnie's pretty face.

"Ummm…can I get some help please?" Caroline tried balancing all of the boxes in her arms, hoping that she didn't drop the box with the glassware in it.

"Oh yeah…yeah! Sorry!" Damon begrudgingly took his eyes off Bonnie and took the boxes out of Caroline's sagging arms.

"Thanks!" Caroline began opening the different boxes and pulling out the Fourth of July decorations.

"Your welcome." Damon went right back to staring at Bonnie.

"You know it's not polite to stare." Caroline placed the decorations on the counter.

"I'm not staring." Damon regretfully pulled his blue eyes away from Bonnie and looked in Caroline's direction.

"Yeah right!" Caroline snorted.

"I'm not." Damon began to clean the glassware that Caroline placed on the bar.

"Sure you aren't!" Caroline laughed.

"What? I'm not…okay. I'm just trying to figure out what she sees in Lockwood…that's all." Damon tried to reassure Caroline, and himself.

"Uh huh…sure you are!" Caroline teased.

"Whatever!" Damon muttered.

"Be honest, Damon…you like Bonnie and you're hoping that Tyler is your brother's killer. That way you can kill two birds with one stone." Caroline knew she had hit pay dirt when Damon began to vigilantly wipe the counter down.

"What the hell are you talking about Caroline?" Damon's eyes gradually drifted back to Bonnie's face.

"You heard what I said. I think you are using this to your advantage. You are doing all these things to prove that Tyler is the killer so that you can get close to Bonnie." Caroline stated smugly.

"What? Blondie, you are coo-coo for cocoa puffs!" Damon laughed.

"No…I think I am right on this one." Caroline eyed the dark-haired man in front of her. She knew she was right and that Damon definitely had feelings for "Miss Goody Two Shoes".

"So…what if you were right?" Damon asked turning to look directly at Caroline.

"I knew it!" Caroline eyed the young couple in the booth who only had eyes for each other.

"You don't know anything Blondie! I just said if…" Damon began to hang the Happy Fourth of July banner Caroline had handed him.

"Well…sorry to burst your bubble, but Tyler didn't kill your brother!" Caroline handed Damon the hammer and nails.

"Like I've said before Blondie…I don't believe you." Damon said with finality effectively ending the conversation.

_***The Rustle of the Sheets***_

Tyler Lockwood knew what he had to do, he hated that it had come to this but he had no other choice. He had to leave town as soon as possible, he couldn't let Damon find out the truth about Bonnie. He just couldn't, with him gone Damon would give up the search for Stefan's killer. If Tyler left town then Damon would believe that Tyler ran because he was Stefan's killer, it was like an admission of guilt without actually admitting anything and the best part was that Bonnie would be safe.

Tyler paced outside by Bonnie's car, she would be getting out of class soon and he had to say goodbye. Of course, Bonnie would think it was a temporary thing, but Tyler would know it was permanent. He was leaving Mystic Falls for good to protect the woman he loved. Tyler would do anything for Bonnie; he loved her just that much even leaving his family and friends behind to keep her safe.

"Babe…what are you doing here?" Bonnie asked knowing Tyler wasn't taking any summer classes.

"Oh…hey babe…I am here to see you." Tyler stated before taking Bonnie's bag and placing it on the back seat of her Toyota Corolla.

"Why? What's wrong?" Bonnie asked alarmed. She hoped Damon wasn't up to some new trick.

"I came to say goodbye babe." Tyler pulled Bonnie into his arms giving her a hug.

"Goodbye? I don't understand." Bonnie was confused, she really didn't understand what Tyler was talking about.

"Babe…I am leaving." Tyler said after taking a deep breath.

"Leaving? Going where?" Bonnie asked incredulously.

"I am going to Florida with Mason on a fishing trip." Tyler looked away as he said this, hating to lie to Bonnie.

"When did you decide this?" Bonnie asked still a little confused.

"Today…this morning after our talk at the Grille…umm…Mason called and asked me right after you left. One of his fishing buddies backed out at the last minute, Babe." Tyler continued to look anywhere but at Bonnie.

"Oh…so when are you leaving?" Bonnie asked.

"'Umm…tonight…" Tyler finally forced himself to look at Bonnie's pretty face.

"Tonight…Babe, you're going to miss the fireworks! We always watch the fireworks together!" Bonnie's eyes began to tear up.

"I know Babe, but Mason said we have to leave tonight." Tyler ran his hands through Bonnie's hair.

"Can't you guys leave tomorrow?" Bonnie poked her lip out in protest.

"No. Babe…don't pout…you're too cute to pout." Tyler laughed in spite of himself. Bonnie made a cute picture with her lip all poked out like a five year old that couldn't have their afternoon treat.

"Babe…when are you coming back?" Bonnie asked in her little girl voice she only used on Tyler.

"Umm…two weeks…I think." Tyler hated lying to Bonnie, but he knew it could not be helped. He had to keep Damon from finding out the truth about Bonnie at all cost.

"Two weeks? Two…flipping…weeks! What kind of fishing trip is Mason taking you on?" Bonnie became upset.

"Babe…calm down! I won't be gone forever!" Tyler prayed that God would forgive him for that lie.

"I know, but it will seem like forever!" Bonnie pouted even more causing Tyler to burst out laughing at her facial expression.

"The time will fly by and I will be back before you know it!" Tyler tried reassuring Bonnie with another hug.

"I guess…" Bonnie didn't want to let Tyler go because for some reason it felt like she would never see him again.

"Come on, Babe…let's go to the Grille and I will buy you lunch." Tyler directed Bonnie to his car.

_***The Rustle of the Sheets***_

Damon knew he was running out of time, he had to find his brother's killer soon. He knew that Caroline Forbes was the key to figuring out who killed his brother. The blonde girl kept trying to convince him that Tyler Lockwood wasn't the killer, but his gut was telling him something different. He just had to get Caroline to open up to him and talk because she tended to blurt things out without thinking.

"Caroline, can I talk to you for a minute?" Tyler walked up to the counter ignoring Damon's presence.

"Sure, Tyler….ummm…Damon can you take Bonnie's order please? Joie is stuck at table five." Caroline quickly stepped from behind the counter and followed Tyler to the back.

"Sure thing…boss." Damon walked over to Bonnie's table.

"Miss Bennett…may I take your order?" Damon gave Bonnie a menu even though he knew she didn't need one.

"Yes…can I get a cheeseburger with a side of curly fries and a cherry coke." Bonnie said without looking at the menu.

"Sure…anything else cutie?" Damon playfully asked before picking up the menu.

"No…and don't call me cutie. Where's Tyler?" Bonnie looked around the Grille for her boyfriend.

"He went to talk to Caroline in the back." Damon said before going to place her order.

"What did you want to talk about Tyler?" Caroline asked.

"Uh…I need you to do me a huge favor?" Tyler said looking around making sure, they weren't overheard by anyone.

"What is it?" Caroline asked a little curious by Tyler's odd behavior.

"I need for you to tell Damon that I killed his brother." Tyler said in a low voice.

"What?" Caroline practically shrieked.

"Keep your voice down!" Tyler took Caroline by the arm and yanked her through the back door. He had to make sure they weren't overheard by anyone.

"Sorry…geesh!" Caroline apologized rubbing her arm.

"I need you to do this for me Caroline. Damon needs to believe that I killed his brother, he can't know the truth about Bonnie and what happened that night." Tyler pleaded with Caroline.

"If I tell him that, then he will kill you Tyler…I can't. I just can't do that…not to you!" Caroline said as her voice cracked.

"Hey…I will be fine. I can take care of myself. Besides, I won't be here for Damon to try and kill. I'm leaving Mystic Falls for good tonight." Tyler wiped away Caroline's tears. He knew Caroline cared about him a lot, more than he cared to know, but he needed her to do this for him and for Bonnie.

"You're leaving?" Caroline cried out.

"Yes…I can't let Damon discover the truth about Bonnie. If I leave then he will definitely think that I killed Stefan and he will leave Bonnie alone." Tyler explained.

"Bonnie…Bonnie…what about me?" Caroline whined.

"My leaving helps you too, Caroline." Tyler stated.

"How? I don't see an upside to you leaving Mystic Falls." Caroline began to weep.

"If I leave, then he will think I am guilty and both you and Bonnie are in the clear." Tyler said before embracing Caroline and giving her a bear hug.

"I don't think I will be able to do that Tyler. I just can't go and tell Damon you are the killer." Caroline tried to stop the tears, but she couldn't help it.

"Yes you can and you will do this for me. I need to make sure Bonnie will be safe before I leave Mystic Falls." Tyler hoped that Caroline could pull this off.

"Fine…I am only doing this because you asked me to, you know I would do anything for you, Tyler." Caroline finally relented.

"Now, dry those tears Cheery. I can't have people thinking I make beautiful girls cry." Tyler teased Caroline before heading back into the Grille.

"Ok, jerk!" Caroline laughed walking behind Tyler.

"Are you ready to go, Babe?" Tyler asked Bonnie before getting up from the booth.

"I guess…ummm…do you have to go on this fishing trip?" Bonnie asked poking her lip out again.

"Babe…I have already promised Mason that I would go with him." Tyler pulled Bonnie into a hug.

"Oh…alright…" Bonnie clutched onto Tyler not wanting to let him go.

"Bonnie…I…I love you. Don't ever forget that okay?" Tyler kissed Bonnie one last time.

"Babe, I love you too! And I won't forget that ever." Bonnie wiped away stray tears from her cheek.

"Bye...Babe…I love you!" Tyler said before getting in the car.

"Uh…Damon…can we talk?" Caroline asked a little nervously.

"Uh…yeah…what's up?" Damon replied curious by Caroline's demeanor.

"I…uh…I have to tell you something." Caroline hated this; she couldn't sell Tyler out like this, even if that's what Tyler wanted.

"What is it?" Damon asked impatiently.

"I…I…I know who killed your brother." Caroline finally squeaked out.

"Who? It's Tyler Lockwood. Isn't it?" Damon demanded grabbing Caroline by her arm roughly.

"No…no…no…it's not Tyler!" Caroline just couldn't do it.

"Then who is it? Who killed my brother, Caroline?" Damon shook Caroline very hard unknowingly.

"It was Bonnie!" Caroline blurted out before breaking down.

"You're…you're lying!" Damon couldn't believe what he had just heard. It couldn't be…not Bonnie.

"No…Bonnie…she…umm…she hit Stefan in the head with a rock. He…he...he tried to rape her!" Caroline cried out from the pain as Damon shoved her against the wall.

"You…you bitch! You're making this up!" Damon snarled at Caroline making her cry even more.

"No…I'm not! Your precious Bonnie is a killer! She killed your brother in the woods by the Falls near the Lockwood property! How else would I know that? I'll tell you how. Because she told me, she said Stefan tried to rape her and she hit him in the back of the head with a rock to save herself." Caroline babbled hoping that Damon would believe her.

"I can't believe it!" Damon said to himself.

"Believe it! Your precious Bonnie is a killer!" Caroline snatched her arm out of Damon's grasp.

"All this time…she's been lying. She knew all along…she knew it was her all along." Damon continued talking to himself pacing back and forth.

"You aren't going to hurt her are you?" Caroline asked.

"Hurt her? Me? No." Damon replied still pacing.

"Woo…she's going to be safe then?" Caroline wondered aloud.

"Safe? I don't think so…she killed my brother and she has to pay!" Damon knew what he had to do now.

"Pay…? What do you mean she has to pay?" Caroline was confused because she figured Damon wouldn't hurt Bonnie.

"Exactly what I said…the Family will want retribution…Bonnie will pay for what she has done." Damon explained with finality.

"Surely your family will understand. I mean it was an accident." Caroline shivered suddenly feeling cold.

"Accident or no accident…my family will want a life for a life." Damon said ominously.

"Oh..God! No…!" Caroline cried.

Bonnie hugged herself as she watched Tyler's car disappear down the road. She could not stop the tears from falling; it was as if she was saying goodbye to Tyler forever. Bonnie was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear Damon creep up from behind her.

"Isn't the wrong person running away Bonnie?" Damon asked coldly.


	8. Chapter 8

"Isn't the wrong person running away Bonnie?" Damon asked coldly.

"What?" Bonnie asked confused. "Oh no…he knows!" Bonnie thought to herself panicking.

"Why couldn't you just tell me the fucking truth Bonnie? Huh? Why?" Damon screamed hovering over Bonnie.

"What truth?" Bonnie asked trying to remain calm, praying that Damon didn't know the truth.

"You know what fucking truth!" Damon became more agitated as he cornered Bonnie against the Grille's hard brick wall.

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Bonnie took a steadying breath trying to stand her ground.

"Yes the fuck you do! Just admit it Bonnie!" Damon yelled as he forcefully grabbed Bonnie by the arm.

"Admit what Damon?" Bonnie asked trying to stall hoping someone would walk by and see them.

"The fucking truth…admit that you fucking killed my brother!" Damon stared at Bonnie as if he could see right through her, daring her to lie to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Bonnie hedged trying to avoid Damon's penetrating gaze.

"Yes you fucking do! Admit it now. Fucking tell me the truth now or so help me God…!" Damon began to shake Bonnie violently.

"Okay…okay. I did it…I did it! I killed him!" Bonnie screamed back at Damon.

Damon was so shocked to finally hear the truth from Bonnie's lips, it felt like he had been hit in the guts. "Not Bonnie!" He thought.

"And now…you have to pay!" Damon scooped Bonnie up and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Put me down! Somebody help!" Bonnie cried while trying to kick Damon in his chest.

"Shut up!" Damon placed his hand over Bonnie's mouth before tossing Bonnie in his car and starting the engine.

"Where…where are you taking me?" Bonnie asked nervously fidgeting trying to figure out the best way to jump out of the moving vehicle.

"Back to where it all began…" Damon said ominously before making sure that all the doors were locked.

"The Falls?" Bonnie asked a little confused.

"The place where you fucking murdered my brother…" Damon parked the car not too far from the spot where Stefan's body was found.

"Why…why did you bring me here? Oh God…you brought me here to murder me!" Bonnie cried as fat salty tears began to roll down her pretty, caramel cheeks. Her worst fear had come true…he was going to kill her!

"I brought you here to finally here the truth out of your lying little mouth!" Damon opened the car door and grabbed Bonnie shoving her toward the water's edge.

"I'm sorry okay!" Bonnie shivered knowing that this would be her last moments on Earth.

"I don't want to hear your sorry…I want to hear the truth Bonnie…now!" Damon grabbed Bonnie once again shoving her.

"Okay…okay…I…I hit him…I hit him in the back of the head…he…ummm…he tried to rape me!" Bonnie sobbed uncontrollably.

"So you hit him when he tried to rape you?" Damon tried to remain unaffected by Bonnie's tears.

"Yeah…yeah…I…uh…I picked up a rock and I hit him in the back of the head!" Bonnie wiped her face on her sleeve.

"Were you alone?" Damon asked not quite believing her story.

"Yes, I was alone…I…uh…was waiting on Car…uh…my study partner and Stefan crept up from behind and he grabbed me and threw me to the ground and he was going to rape me…so I picked up this rock when he wasn't looking and I hit him twice in the back of the head." Bonnie babbled trying not to reveal Caroline's part in Stefan's death. She didn't want Caroline's murder on her hands too.

"So you didn't mean to kill him?" Damon asked Bonnie, as she shook her head no.

"I really didn't mean to hurt him…I just…I just wanted to get away…I'm so…so…so sorry Damon!" Bonnie cried clutching Damon's shirt hoping to convince him that she didn't mean to hurt his brother.

"It was an accident…right?" Damon said more to himself than to Bonnie, trying desperately to convince himself it was just an accident.

"Yes…it was a horrible…horrible accident!" Bonnie continued to sob on his shoulder hoping against hope that Damon would show her a little mercy.

"Okay, Bonnie, I believe you…but…someone's still going to have to pay!" Damon said as he pulled Bonnie to her feet.

"Huh? You are still going to kill me, even though it was an accident?" Bonnie asked incredulously not believing that Damon could be so cruel.

"Someone's got to pay…I'm sorry Bonnie, but The Family's going to want retribution…a life for a life…that's what it has to be!" Damon reluctantly pushed Bonnie towards the water's edge.

"Oh God…you are really going to kill me!" Bonnie began to recite The Lord's Prayer in hope of a miracle.

"I'm sorry Bonnie!" Damon said remorsefully.

Damon knew that the Family would send Klaus to make sure that the job was done, so he had no choice. He had to kill Bonnie Bennett tonight. Damon blindfolded Bonnie and pushed her into the water, and pulled out his 9 mm handgun before closing his eyes and squeezing the trigger. The water splashed Damon in his eyes as Bonnie's body fell face first into the water. Damon turned when he heard a crunching sound; he wasn't surprised to see Klaus Mikaelsen standing a few feet behind him taking everything in.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Damon asked a little annoyed that Klaus had been sent to check on him.

"I'm here to make sure that the job was done." Klaus said matter-of-factly as he walked to the water's edge to see a body floating in the water.

"It's done okay. Now, you can leave." Damon said hurriedly trying to get the henchman to leave.

"Sad…such a waste of a pretty girl…oh well…The Family will be satisfied to know that you have proven to be a real Salvatore!" Klaus said before slowly walking away.

"It had to be done right! A life for a life…" Damon said sadly, taking one last look before he walked Klaus back to his car.

_***The Rustle of the Sheets***_

Damon hurriedly walked back to the spot where he had left Bonnie's body hoping he wasn't too late. Damon fished Bonnie's limp body out of the water, wrapped her up in his jacket, and carried her back to the car. Bonnie was still unconscious from the fall into the water, he hoped she hadn't hit her head when she fell into the water on one of those jagged rocks. Damon knew he had to get Bonnie to some place safe before anyone found out the truth.

"Where am I?" Bonnie asked groggily.

"Ummm…you're safe…we are in my car on the highway." Damon explained gently not wanting to scare the young woman.

"Where are we going? Why are we on the highway? What's going on?" Bonnie's questions came tumbling out all at once.

"Ummm…we are going to Virginia Beach and we are on the highway to keep you safe…and as for the rest I will tell you later after you get some rest." Damon didn't want to upset Bonnie too much so he kept his plan to himself for now.

"Ok…ummm…thanks for saving my life." Bonnie said before turning over in her seat and closing her eyes, she was tired all of a sudden.

Damon knew that he would have to carefully lay out his plan to Bonnie because he knew she probably wouldn't agree, but it had to be done to save her life. "It is the only way." He thought to himself.

Damon pulled his red Mercedes Benz into the parking lot and turned off his lights. He watched Bonnie sleep for a few minutes before finally deciding to wake her. "Damn…she's so beautiful." He thought to himself before gently shaking Bonnie awake.

"Bonnie…hey…wake up…ummm…we're here." Damon said gently as Bonnie slowly opened her eyes and stretched her arms.

"Where…where are we?" Bonnie asked confused looking around at the quaint little beach side cottage.

"Ummm…we are at the Justice of the Peace." Damon said sheepishly hoping that Bonnie wouldn't freak out on him.

"We are where? Justice of the Peace? Why?" Bonnie asked not quite getting what Damon was hinting at.

"We are here to get married." Damon said breezily.

"Married?" Bonnie looked at Damon as if he had two heads.

"Yes…married." Damon repeated slowly.

"Why on Earth would we need to do that?" Bonnie asked as she sat up in her seat.

"Too keep you safe…duh!" Damon unlatched his seat belt opening his door and getting out.

"Why would we need to get married to keep me safe?" Bonnie asked still not quite accepting Damon's explanation.

"I will explain all that later, right now we have to get a move on before The Family finds out the truth!" Damon opened Bonnie's door expecting her to get out, but she didn't budge.

"I'm not moving a muscle until you tell me what the hell is going on Damon Salvatore!" Bonnie exclaimed before crossing her arms across her chest.

"Look…we are running out of time. My Family thinks that you are dead and the only way to protect you from The Family's wrath is for us to get married. The Family always protects their own." Damon said as he began to tap his fingers on top of the hood in impatience.

"So getting married is supposed to protect me from your family's wrath…how?" Bonnie asked still not quite believing Damon's explanation.

"The Family never hurts one of its own…therefore if you marry me then you are family and you are protected." Damon explained slowly as if he were talking to a child.

"So if I marry you, then I will be protected…no harm will come to me, my family, or my friends?" Bonnie asked trying to make sure she understood before agreeing to anything life changing.

"Yes…Bonnie if you marry me, then you, your family, and your friends are safe." Damon said as he exhaled impatiently.

"Ok, then…Damon I will marry you." Bonnie said as she took the hand that Damon offered before getting out of the car.

Damon lifted the brass knocker on the door and knocked a few times, before he saw a light turn on in the cottage. A portly white haired man answered the door in a black robe.

"Hi…you must be the couple that called earlier. Sorry, I fell asleep waiting on you to arrive." The Justice of the Peace said as he stepped aside to allow Bonnie and Damon access.

Bonnie kinked her eyebrows at Damon before she said, "So you already had this planned…huh?"

"It's not what you think…I needed to act fast so I called ahead to make sure we could get it done tonight before The Family found out about my faking your death." Damon whispered while grabbing her hand and leading her to the sitting room.

"Uh…huh…" Bonnie grunted in return.

"Okay…are you both ready?" The Justice asked them when he walked into the room.

"Yes…yes we are." Damon said before placing Bonnie's hand in his.

"You don't have a witness, correct?" The Justice asked before picking up the telephone.

"No, no we don't. Will it be a problem?" Damon replied hoping that it wouldn't be a road-block in his plan.

"No…my assistant lives two cottages over, so she can be your witness." The Justice said before going to answer the door.

The Justice returned with a mousy young woman in tow, "We can begin."

"Good…let's get this show on the road." Damon smirked as Bonnie grimaced.

_***The Rustle of the Sheets***_

Damon drove his red Mercedes through the wrought iron gates and pulled his car into the six-car garage. He looked over at Bonnie before cutting the engine off, "Hey…don't be scared okay…everything's going to be fine…just fine."

"Are you sure?" Bonnie asked as she twisted the wedding band and diamond engagement right on her finger.

"Yes…everything will be fine…The Family has no choice but to accept you, like I said before we protect our own." Damon said encouragingly.

"I hope you are right." Bonnie said before taking a deep breath.

"Relax…just make sure to stick to the story." Damon opened Bonnie's door and offered his hand.

"That we are deeply in love." Bonnie said shakily.

"Yes…but you need to be a little more convincing than that, or otherwise my Family won't believe you!" Damon said before giving her hand an encouraging squeeze.

"And if I don't?" Bonnie asked somewhat afraid of the answer.

"You won't make it out of here alive!" Damon deadpanned.


	9. Chapter 9

**If I haven't said this before I'm saying it now…I don't own Vampire Diaries or its characters. I just like playing with them! Sorry about the time between updates…life getting in the way.**

Bonnie slowly unbuckled her seat belt as Damon came around to open the door for her as he helped her out of the car. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as they walked around to the front door of the giant mansion. Damon took her hand in his as they both walked through the door into the foyer and he squeezed her hand reassuringly before he said, "Don't be nervous, just remember what I told you, and everything will be fine."

"Ok, but that's easy for you to say your head is not on the chopping block." Bonnie said a little exasperated. She was trying to hold it together…she really was, but this was just too much for her. Her life depended on if she was able to convince Damon's family that they were in love, and the sad thing was she really didn't think she could.

"Just apologize to my mother and father, act like you're in love with me, and I will do the rest. Okay?" Damon put his arm around Bonnie giving her a comforting squeeze hoping that would settle her nerves a little bit.

"Fine…I just can't imagine anyone wanting revenge by taking another person's life, all of this is just so surreal to me." Bonnie replied as she shivered from all the rampant thoughts running through her head.

"I know, but you have to shake your nerves, otherwise my family will see right through you and won't believe a word you say. Just know that they feed on a person's weakness, especially my mother and my sister." Damon knew that he had to give her a fair warning before sending Bonnie into the lion's den, his mother and sister was too much sometimes even for him.

"Okay." Bonnie replied resolutely trying to squash the nervousness.

"Good. You ready?" Damon asked as he took Bonnie's hand before walking down the long hallway.

"As ready as I will ever be…I guess." Bonnie replied before saying a silent prayer.

"Damon, what the hell is she doing here? I thought she was dead." Klaus Mikaelsen asked very stunned by the young woman's sudden reappearance.

"Yeah, she was…or at least I made you think she was." Damon smirked at the young man standing before him.

"This is not good, Damon…not good at all." Klaus replied shaking his head at the young couple.

"Everything is going to be fine, Klaus. Don't get your panties in a bunch…" Damon cockily assured the flaxen-haired man trying to cover his nervousness about the looming meet and greet with his family.

"My panties aren't in a bunch, but yours will be once your mother and sister find out about this." Klaus wasn't afraid of much, but he was afraid of Damon's mother and sister because he knew they both could be deadly. He would hate to have either one as an enemy. Melania could be vicious, but Maria didn't forgive nor forget.

"Mama will be fine, and as for Melania…I am not even worried about her reaction!" Damon didn't want Klaus to upset Bonnie more than she already was, she needed to keep a level head if they were going to survive this first meeting with his family.

"Ok…you know The Family does not tolerate dishonesty, disloyalty, and most of all betrayal." Klaus said with finality.

"No one was betrayed…so calm the fuck down! I was dishonest for a reason and I will let The Family know why. This has nothing to do with you, so stay the fuck out of it! Now, go and tell The Family that I am here!" Damon was a little irritated by Klaus sticking his nose in his family's business; he was so tired of Klaus thinking he could say anything to him with no repercussions. Klaus worked for his family, he wasn't a part of the family, and he better learn his place and soon.

"Fine, but this won't go over well." Klaus shot back before announcing Damon's arrival.

"Ready?" Damon asked Bonnie taking her hand in his.

"Yes." Bonnie said hoping that she did not still sound nervous.

"Good...trust me okay. Everything will be fine and I will keep you safe. I promise." Damon squeezed Bonnie's hand reassuringly before placing a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Okay." Bonnie stated firmly before walking into the solarium.

"Well, what do we have here?" Melania, Damon's dark-haired sister, asked.

"That's my question." Maria, Damon's mother, stated walking up to the couple.

"Mother, where's father?" Damon asked trying to block any access to Bonnie by pushing her behind his back.

"He was in the study, earlier. Damon, what the hell is going on?" Maria responded harshly to Damon's question while trying to get a good look at the young woman behind Damon's back.

"Yeah…Damon, what the hell is going on? Why is she here?" Melania pointed before running up to Damon trying to get at the scared young girl behind him.

"Who is she?" Maria asked confused. The dark haired woman walked over to her son and daughter trying to intervene before anything physical happened. She hated it when her kids fought.

"She's is your son's killer!" Melania snapped viciously. The petite young woman with the long dark hair flung her arms out trying to grab at Bonnie, but Damon blocked every one of Melania's attempts to grab Bonnie.

"What? You brought this…this…puttana a casa mia!" Maria was so furious that she switched to her native Italian in the middle of her sentence. She could not believe Damon's nerve. How could he just betray the family like that?

Melania laughed before she stated, "You are a piece of work…you know that?" She was truly disgusted by her brother. How could he not do what The Family asked of him?

"Calm the fuck down! Mind your fucking business Melania! Mama, dove il papa?" Damon switched to Italian because he knew that speaking his mother's native tongue helped to keep her calm.

"He's in the study…he should be here shortly." Maria replied in English because she knew her son's tactics of speaking in Italian whenever he knew he was in trouble.

"Okay…no one answered my damn question!" Melania stated bitchily trying to get to why her brother's killer was alive and standing in their house.

"Melania, I am not going to tell you again…shut the fuck up and calm the fuck down! You will find out everything when Papa gets here!" Damon bellowed in a loud voice that brooked no argument from his sister.

"Well, I'm here! Now, what the hell is going on? Why are you shouting son?" Guiseppe Salvatore asked as he entered the solarium.

"Because Papa your asshole of a son has brought my brother's killer into this house…!" Melania dramatically whined making her way over to her father's side.

"Melania…didn't I tell you to stay the fuck out of this!" Damon took a step back because he knew that his sister was slowly trying to make her way over to Bonnie. He was not fooled by Melania's dramatics; he knew that she was trying to figure out a way to get to Bonnie without him noticing.

"Why would you do that, son?" Guiseppe asked hoping to gain some insight into his son's actions. Guiseppe knew that Damon always had a reason for everything that he did, and he knew that his son would not just betray The Family if he did not have a good enough reason.

"She's supposed to be dead! Why would you betray The Family like that?" Maria slowly walked over to the cabinet next to the far wall.

"Yeah…Damon…why would you?" Melania taunted her brother while trying to find a way to get to Bonnie.

"Mama and Papa…please listen to me…I can explain." Damon pleaded.

"Explain then son…I'm all ears." Guiseppe Salvatore stated as he sat down on the sofa ready to hear his son's explanation.

"He brought me here to apologize." Bonnie said brazenly as she stepped from around Damon.

"Hmmm…oh really?" Guiseppe asked as he kinked his eyebrows at the young girl. "She has guts." Guiseppe thought to himself.

"Yes sir…I just want to say I am sorry for your loss…I didn't mean for any of that to happen." Bonnie said sincerely while stepping closer to Guiseppe and looking him directly in the eyes.

"Oh…sure you did…you bitch…you killed my brother!" Melania yelled as she grabbed Bonnie by the hair and viciously started to tug.

"Melania! Stop it this instant!" Guiseppe growled as he helped Damon to pull the girls apart. "Sometimes Melania did more harm than good." He thought to himself.

"She killed my brother, Papa!" Melania whined hoping to get her father on her side.

"Melania, sit there and shut up! One more word out of you and I will make you leave…is that clear?" Guiseppe demanded before taking his seat back on the sofa.

"Yes…Papa." Melania replied repentantly.

"Now, please do go on Miss Bennett." Guiseppe said kindly. Damon knew that they were in trouble because his father was never nice unless he needed to be and in their business niceness meant that the axe was about to fall on someone's head.

"I…I…just want to say I'm sorry for your loss. I want you to know that I never meant to kill Stefan. I was only trying to protect myself. He…he…he was going to rape me and I…I…I only hit him to get him off me. It was an accident…I didn't mean to hurt your son." Bonnie pleaded with tears in her eyes as Melania rolled her eyes.

"Oh…cut the dramatics!" Melania said as she tried to push Bonnie down.

"Melania! I meant what I said…leave now!" Guiseppe yelled furious at his daughter's childish behavior.

"But…but…Papa…!" Melania begged before eventually leaving because she knew the look she received from her father meant business.

"Now…Miss Bennett…you say it was an accident?" Maria Salvatore finally asked alerting every one of her presence in the room.

"Yes…yes, ma'am." Bonnie said shakily. She forgot Damon's mother was even there, she had been so quiet up until now.

"Huh…now Miss Bennett…since it was an "accident"…do you think you should be punished?" Maria slowly began to walk across the room with her hands behind her back.

Bonnie gulped before she said, "Ummm…I don't know Mrs. Salvatore."

"Well…sweetheart in my family we punish those who hurt us." Maria said as she stopped directly in front of Bonnie, took her hands from around her back revealing a small handgun, and raised it to Bonnie's chest.

Damon jumped in front of Bonnie before he screamed, "Mama, don't! She's my wife!"


	10. Welcome to The Family

**I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter, but I had to hit you with that cliffhanger. I was kind of unsure about the chapter and I wanted to end that chapter on a good note. Anyways, thank you for all the reviews…I love your feedback! It makes my day when I see that you guys are totally into my fanfic. Now to address one reviewer's question…The Family is The Salvatore Family meaning their Mafia family/business. The Family consists of the Salvatores and their extended family in Italy and America who are a part of their syndicate/cartel/crime family. The Family in my mind is like a corporation where Giuseppe is the head and he has brothers/extended family that run the other parts of the business. That is why I capitalize The Family because I feel like it is a corporation. I hope that clears up any confusion.**

Damon jumped in front of Bonnie before he screamed, "Mama, don't! She's my wife!"

"What?" Maria cried furiously as she cocked the small pistol back.

"Mama, please put the gun down!" Damon pushed Bonnie further behind him in an attempt to keep her out of harm's way.

"No! Damon, she will pay for what she has done…a life for a life…that's the way it has to be!" Maria stepped a little to the left and aimed the gun at Bonnie's head.

"No, Mama! You will have to kill me because I will not allow you to hurt Bonnie…she is my wife…she's a part of this family...and…and we don't harm family! Mama…Mama…please…I'm begging you to put the gun down!" Damon knew that he had to be careful with his mother because she was an excellent shooter. His father had taught Maria how to shoot, just in case she had to protect herself or their children from one of their enemies.

"Maria…put the damn gun down now!" Giuseppe commanded as he marched over to his wife and son. Giuseppe tried to snatch the gun from Maria's hands, but Maria knew her husband like the back of her hand and she figured he would try to take the gun away from her.

Maria slid to the side quickly and raised the gun back to Bonnie's chest before she spat out, "No! This puttana must die tonight! She killed my son and now she will pay!"

Damon saw his mother as she raised the gun and aimed it at Bonnie's chest and he quickly jumped in front before he yelled out, "Nooooooo…" He knocked his mother to the ground as the gun went off.

Maria could not believe that Damon jumped in front of Bonnie and knocked the gun out of her hand; she heard the shot and she hoped she hit her target. She slowly pushed Damon off her as she said, "Let me up so that I can make sure that bitch is dead!"

Giuseppe scrambled to help his wife up, as well as his son. He could not believe his wife sometimes, she and Melania always flew off the handle about the smallest things. They were always acting rashly, never ever thinking about the consequences of their actions, and what that would mean for The Family. Giuseppe had to respect the code of The Family and their main mantra was that family never harms family. He knew that he had to handle the situation delicately before it got even more out of hand. "Son, are you okay? Maria, what the fuck is wrong with you? You know our rules…family does not ever…ever harm family!" Giuseppe bellowed as he stood in front of his wife.

"Giuseppe, she killed our baby boy! That doesn't mean anything to you?" Maria whaled as she began to beat her husband on his chest.

"Maria, calm the fuck down!" Giuseppe commanded as he grabbed his wife's arms, held them above her head, and pulled her to him to stop the incessant pounding on his chest.

"No!" Maria screamed as she stomped her feet defiantly reminiscent of Melania's earlier actions.

"Maria, I mean it! You will calm the fuck down now!" Giuseppe demanded in a thunderous tone as he unceremoniously dumped his wife onto the nearby sofa.

"Alright…alright…I'm calm." Maria replied as tried to sit herself upright on the sofa.

"I hope you are because I don't want to have another scene like this ever! Do you understand? " Giuseppe looked at his wife waiting for her acquiescence.

"Yes, Giuseppe…I understand…I understand that you prefer to save to this…this puttana's life over avenging our son's death!" Maria spat back angrily.

"Maria, you are trying my patience. I have had enough of your histrionics! Sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up now!" Giuseppe bellowed as Maria slowly sat back down onto the couch. Maria knew that Giuseppe's patience was wearing thin because the vein on his forehead was throbbing; she knew to close her mouth and remain quiet because Giuseppe could be quite scary when he was angry like that.

"Fine." Maria mumbled.

"Son, are you alright?" Giuseppe asked as he turned finally acknowledging his son.

"Yes, Papa…I'm fine, but it's Bonnie I'm worried about." Damon said as he tried to comfort an inconsolable Bonnie.

Bonnie just knew her life was over when she heard the gunshot, she thought she had been hit, but then she felt nothing and she finally opened her eyes to realize that the bullet hadn't hit her at all. Damon had saved her life; she just couldn't believe that he would risk his life like that for her of all people. Tears began to fall down Bonnie's caramel-colored cheeks as her body shook uncontrollably, and in that moment she knew that, Damon was her only hope for survival because Maria would stop at nothing to avenge her son's death even if that meant killing her son's wife.

Damon marched over to his wife, took her in his arms, and began to rub her back as he murmured soothing words in Italian lovingly in her ear. Bonnie began to freak out even more when she saw blood on her blouse from Damon's wound, and that is when Damon realized he had been shot.

"Shhh…baby it's going to be okay…it's going to be okay." Damon said as he rocked Bonnie back and forth on the loveseat.

Bonnie continued to cry like a little baby as Damon continued to rock her. "You're…you're shot!" Bonnie squeaked out between sobs.

"Bonnie…baby…I'm fine, okay? It's just a flesh wound…see?" Damon tried repeatedly to get Bonnie to open her eyes and to look at him so that she could see that he was in fact fine.

Bonnie finally opened her eyes and peaked over her shoulder before she sighed in relief. "Thank God! You're okay…you could've been killed!" She examined his body trying to find his wound.

"I'm fine…it's just a flesh wound…see it has even stopped bleeding." Damon pointed his right shoulder in Bonnie's direction so that she could examine the area for herself.

"Are you sure it's just a flesh wound, Son?" Giuseppe asked walking over to Damon and Bonnie.

"Yes...Papa. I'm fine." Damon said hoping to drop the subject because he had finally managed to calm Bonnie down and he didn't want his father upsetting her again.

"Good…thank goodness…Maria…how could you?" Giuseppe glared at his wife. He just could not believe that she would take that kind of risk where their son was concerned. Giuseppe vowed in that moment to let bygones be bygones because he could not and would not lose his other son.

"How could I? Really? Giuseppe! You have a lot of nerve! She killed my son!" Maria asked incredulously pacing back and forth.

"Mama…it was an accident! Bonnie didn't mean to hurt Stefan…he…he was attacking her, Mama!" Damon defended as he continued to rock Bonnie in his arms.

"Uh huh…that's what that puttana wants you to believe!" Maria retorted loudly.

"That's the truth!" Bonnie piped up. She had enough of Damon's mother and sister trying to bully her and their attempts to hurt her.

"I'm sure that's the story you're selling to my son, but sweetheart I'm not buying it!" Maria spat back harshly.

"Well…it's the truth…and I'm sorry that your son was killed, but he tried to hurt me and all I was doing was protecting myself!" Bonnie defiantly lifted her chin in the air remembering that Damon said that his mother and sister fed off fear.

"Some protection…!" Maria muttered.

"Enough! Mama and Bonnie you are now family…and…you are going to start acting like it!" Damon lifted Bonnie up off his lap and placed her next to him.

"This…this puttana is no family of mine!" Maria spat viciously.

"Maria, stop it this instant! Damon has made his choice, he has married the girl, and you will respect that! Do I make myself clear?" Giuseppe commanded a little tired of his wife's theatrics.

"Yes…okay…damn it!" Maria finally answered defiantly.

"Good! Now…welcome to The Family, Bonnie!" Giuseppe said as he clasped Bonnie in a hug.


	11. Tyler learns the truth

"Good! Now…welcome to The Family, Bonnie!" Giuseppe said as he clasped Bonnie in a hug.

Bonnie grimaced before she said, "Thank you."

"Sorry to interrupt…but there is a visitor here to see Damon." Klaus said as he cautiously walked into the solarium.

"Who is it, Klaus? We are having a private family moment…as you so obviously can see." Giuseppe asked impatiently.

"Ummm…a young man…he says he needs to speak to Damon and it's about…ummm…Stefan's death." Klaus said uncomfortably knowing exactly who the visitor was.

"Let him in then by all means…" Maria jumped in before Giuseppe could respond. She wanted to know what light this stranger could shed on her son's death or maybe it would lead to her new daughter-in-law's demise.

_***The Rustle of the Sheets***_

Caroline paced back and forth, as she continued to dial Tyler's number from both her cell and the Grille's cordless phone. "Pick up, pick up, pick up…damn it! Tyler pick up the got damn phone!" Caroline screamed in frustration before she tossed the cordless phone against the wall.

"Hey…hey…hey! What is going on here?" Liz, Caroline's mom, asked as she picked up the cordless phone.

"Uh…Mom…hey! What are you doing here?" Caroline asked a little perplexed by her mother's visit, her mom rarely came by the Grille anymore since her Father's death. Caroline knew that it hurt her too much to be there.

"I came by to see why you didn't show up to watch the fireworks last night like we planned." Liz asked, as she looked Caroline directly in her eyes.

"Oh…I'm so, so, so sorry Mom! I completely forgot! There was an emergency with Bonnie and I totally forgot to call and let you know that I couldn't make it." Caroline continued to pace to avoid having to look in her mother's eyes; she knew that her mom knew when she was lying and when she was telling the truth.

"What's wrong with Bonnie? Is she okay?" Liz asked concerned because she knew her daughter and Bonnie had a strange love-hate relationship.

"Oh…she's fine…I think. It's just that she needed to talk over a few things, you know girly stuff!" Caroline let out an uncomfortable laugh in an attempt to cover her nervousness. Caroline knew Liz wasn't great at girl talk, so she knew that would throw Liz off if she suspected anything was amiss.

"Ok…then…I…ummm…just wanted to make sure you were okay." Liz hated girly shit, she was a beers and football type of woman, she hated the emotional talks Caroline and her father, Carl, was so fond of having before he died.

"I'm fine…Mom…it's just…I miss Dad a lot…you know. I know…this…this emo stuff gets to you…and…and you don't like to talk about your feelings. I'm just emotional right now..." Caroline tried to sound, as close to tears as possible because she knew that was the fastest way to get her mom off her back.

"Sorry, honey…I'm just not good at this kind of stuff…your dad was so…so…yeah…he was so much better at this than I am…I'm sorry sweetie." Liz gave Caroline a weak smile before giving her a hug.

"It's okay, Mom." Caroline said before returning her mom's hug.

"I love you, kiddo." Liz said before messing with Caroline's hair.

"Love you too…Mom…oooh…gotta take this call! It's Tyler!" Caroline squealed before running into the kitchen away from prying ears.

"Hello…Caroline?" Tyler greeted.

"Damn…Ty…took you long enough to return my 1,800 phone calls!" Caroline admonished.

"Sorry, Care…Mason and I turned our phones off before we left town. Why? What's up?" Tyler asked trying to get at what Caroline wanted.

"Ummm…Ty…you aren't going to like what I have to tell you!" Caroline silently prayed that Tyler wouldn't be mad at her after what she was about to tell him.

"What is it that you have to tell me Caroline? Is it about Bonnie? Spit it out already…Caroline!" Tyler began to get a little agitated with Caroline's evasiveness.

"Ummm…I kind of told Damon that…that…that Bonnie killed Stefan!" Caroline said in a rush.

"What? What the hell are you talking about Caroline?" Tyler yelled before trying to rein in his emotions.

"I…I…I…uh…I told Damon that…that…that Bonnie killed his brother! I…I…I just couldn't tell Damon what you wanted me to tell him! I couldn't…I couldn't tell him that you killed his brother…so I did the next best thing I could think of and…and…and that was to tell him that Bonnie did it! Damon has feelings for Bonnie…so…so…so he won't hurt her!" Caroline rambled on and on trying to justify her actions to Tyler.

"Oh…really? You don't think he will hurt Bonnie…please…those people are in the mob…they don't give a shit about Bonnie…Damon isn't going to go up against his family for a stranger he has a crush on…please…these people have no souls…they will kill her…and…and if they do…I will never forgive you!" Tyler growled out.

"Tyler, don't say that! Look…I'm sorry okay! I just…I just couldn't do that to you…I couldn't let Damon come after you like that! I just thought that…that telling him…that Bonnie was the killer…he…he wouldn't hurt her…because…because Damon is in love with her! Please…please don't be mad at me…I was just trying to save your life!" Caroline pleaded as tears began to slip from her eyes.

"Caroline…I didn't need you to save my life! I needed you to save Bonnie's and…and you fucking failed! You have thrown her to the wolves and God knows what those people will do to her once they have found out the truth! Where is she? Have you talked her? Is she okay?" Tyler asked as he grabbed Mason's keys and jumped in the truck.

"No…I haven't talked her…ummm…I haven't heard from her since yesterday when you left." Caroline squeaked out hoping Tyler wouldn't blow a gasket.

"What? What the fuck you mean you haven't heard from her since yesterday? Did you go and check on her?" Tyler slammed his fists against the steering wheel.

"Yes…yes…I tried calling her cell, but she didn't answer! I think…I think…" Caroline couldn't maintain her composure as she began to sob uncontrollably.

"Spit it out Caroline!" Tyler commanded quickly losing his patience with the blonde girl.

"I think…I think…ummm…Damon has her!" Caroline finally admitted.

"Shit…shit…shit! I'll be there in a few hours!" Tyler spat before abruptly ending the call.

"Tyler…Ty…damn…he hung up on me! Son of a bitch! I hope he makes it in time…before...before it's too late!" Caroline trembled before trying to call Bonnie once more.

_***The Rustle of the Sheets***_

Tyler made it back to Mystic Falls in less than 4 hours; he knew he broke almost every speeding law there was, but he had to get to Bonnie before it was too late. Tyler had picked up Caroline and Matt on the way to the Salvatore's house. The Salvatore family lived in the ritziest part of Mystic Falls in a huge, monstrous mansion not too far from Wickery Bridge.

"How are we going to get inside?" Matt asked shortly before they pulled up to the gated mansion.

"I got this okay." Tyler said before speaking with the security guard.

"What did you tell him?" Caroline asked amazed with how easy Tyler got past security.

"I told him the truth…that I needed to speak with Damon about Stefan's death." Tyler replied easily.

"Oh…okay, but what is our plan now?" Matt asked a little worried.

"Just follow my lead…okay." Tyler ordered before getting out of Mason's truck.

"Okay…but I don't think us just showing up like this will help the situation." Caroline tried to reason.

"Well…if you would've done like I asked…we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with…" Tyler admonished before ringing the doorbell.

"Kids…please no fighting before the real fighting has begun." Matt said trying to break the tension between Caroline and Tyler.

"Matt's right…we are in this together…right?" Caroline squeezed Tyler's hand for reassurance.

"Right." Tyler replied just as the door swung open.

"Hello…may I help you?" Klaus asked annoyed hating that it was Alfred, the butler's day off.

"Yes…ummm…I'm here to see Damon." Tyler stated trying to look past the English man.

"What business do you have with Mr. Salvatore?" Klaus asked suspiciously.

"I…ummm…I'm not here for business…I need to speak to Damon about his brother Stefan." Tyler really didn't like the vibe he was getting from this stranger. He could tell this man was a killer plain and simple.

"What about?" Klaus asked still not quite convinced he needed to speak to Damon. He hated to have to interrupt the Salvatore's if it wasn't important.

"None of your business…I have to speak to Damon about Stefan and that's all you need to know." Tyler spat haughtily; he was getting tired of playing twenty questions with this stranger.

"Fine…I will let Mr. Salvatore know you are here." Klaus replied as he left Tyler, Caroline, and Matt in the foyer.

"Okay…so…what happens next?" Caroline asked as she began to look around the room.

"I speak to Damon, find out if Bonnie is here, and get her the hell out of here!" Tyler replied quickly.

"Sir, Mr. Salvatore will see you now." Klaus announced suddenly before leading the trio to the solarium.

_***The Rustle of the Sheets***_

Damon pulled Bonnie to the side before the visitor arrived and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…yeah…I'm fine." Bonnie replied trying to suppress a shiver.

"I know that…this is a little a crazy, but you have got to keep it together. Okay?" Damon pulled Bonnie closer because he didn't want his parents to overhear their conversation.

"I'm trying…okay…I'm trying." Bonnie responded a little too loudly.

"Shhh…lower your voice!" Damon admonished before giving his parents a weak smile.

"Sorry! I'm trying, but I can't pretend anymore…I'm not in love with you…I just can't fake it!" Bonnie said exasperated by the day's events.

"Yes, you can…you are going to have to…if…and I mean if you want to stay alive. Did you just forget about your friends and family, Bonnie?" Damon stepped even closer to Bonnie as he whispered in her ear.

"Your family wouldn't dare hurt my family and friends…would they?" Bonnie asked, feeling uneasy with Damon's close proximity.

"You have met my mother right?" Damon retorts sarcastically.

"Yes…but I can't…I can't pretend like I love you! Hell, I don't even like you!" Bonnie spat out nervously.

"Well…Mrs. Salvatore…it doesn't matter if you can't…you better because your life…their lives depend on it!" Damon whispered in Bonnie's ear before embracing her.

"Fine…I will try my best." Bonnie replied before slowly placing her arms around Damon's neck.

"Good…it starts now!" Damon said before pulling Bonnie closer to him and placing his lips on hers. Damon gripped Bonnie's hair as he pulled her closer, crushing his lips against hers, and slowly but surely getting Bonnie to open her mouth before he thrust his tongue in her sweet, tangy depths. Bonnie was so surprised by the kiss that she didn't realize that she had begun to kiss Damon back, she slowly ran her hands through his silky tresses as she emitted a slight moan. Bonnie and Damon had been so caught up in the spine-tingling kiss that they did not realize that Tyler, Matt, and Caroline had entered the solarium.

"Bonnie! What the fuck is going on?" Tyler screamed before running to Bonnie and ripping her away from Damon.

"Tyler…Tyler…what…what are you doing here?" Bonnie asked terrified.

"I'm here to take you home! Come on let's go!" Tyler said before trying to drag Bonnie out of the solarium.

"I can't." Bonnie said planting her feet, trying to stop Tyler's efforts.

"What do you mean you can't?" Tyler asked perplexed by Bonnie's behavior.

"I'm sorry Tyler…I can't go with you!" Bonnie said regretfully.

"Why? What the hell is going on Bonnie?" Tyler asked trying to understand what Bonnie was saying.

"Do you want to tell him or shall I?" Damon asked Bonnie before turning to look at Tyler.

"Tell me what?" Tyler asked a little confused.

"Damon…don't…" Bonnie pleaded.

"What the hell is going on Bonnie?" Tyler asked again. He was getting tired of Damon and his lame ass games.

"I…I…ummm…I'm sorry Ty…" Bonnie tried but she couldn't do it, she couldn't break Tyler's heart.

"What my wife is trying to tell you…is that…that Bonnie and I are married…we got married last night!" Damon said with a smirk as he pulled Bonnie to him and planted a kiss on her lips.


	12. The truth or a lie

"I…I…ummm…I'm sorry Ty…" Bonnie tried but she couldn't do it, she just couldn't break Tyler's heart.

"What my wife is trying to tell you…is that…that Bonnie and I are married…we got married last night!" Damon said with a smirk as he pulled Bonnie to him and planted a kiss on her lips.

Tyler couldn't believe his ears, he thought he just heard…nah…it couldn't be what he heard…Bonnie would never do that to him. Tyler looked up to see Damon and Bonnie in an embrace and Damon was kissing her…his girl…this motherfucker was kissing his girl. Tyler saw red as he screamed, "Motherfucker!"

Bonnie was so swept up in Damon's kiss that she had completely forgotten about Tyler until she heard him scream out her name.

"Bonnie!" Tyler cried out hurtfully as Bonnie broke off the kiss with Damon.

"Tyler…I'm sorry!" Bonnie said as she stepped around Damon to approach her former love.

"Sorry…your sorry…what the fuck is going on? I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone!" Tyler shook Matt's hand away as he stepped closer to Bonnie.

"This isn't the Twilight Zone TyTy Baby…this is real life, and this is my real wife!" Damon said snarkily as he pulled Bonnie back to him.

"You're fucking lying Salvatore! I don't believe you! Bonnie…my Bonnie would never do that to me!" Tyler fired back getting all up in Damon's face.

"Well…I'm sorry Tyler to be the one to have to tell you this…scratch that I'm not…we were married last night…so get the fuck over it and get the fuck out!" Damon snarled as he got back all up in Tyler's face.

"I still don't fucking believe you, Salvatore!" Tyler spat back before he looked into Bonnie's eyes.

Bonnie tried to avoid his gaze; she hated it when Tyler stared at her like that. She knew she had hurt him deeply with this revelation, but it couldn't be avoided anymore. He needed to know the truth, and she knew this was the only way to keep her, him, and their friends and family safe from The Salvatores.

"It's true, Tyler…ummm…what Damon said is true. He's…he's my husband. We got married last night." Bonnie tried not to cry as she looked at Tyler's crestfallen face when she showed him her wedding and engagement rings.

"Bonnie…you're lying…I know that he is forcing you to say this…because…because you would never ever hurt me like that…you just wouldn't…end this charade now! Tell me the truth…you are lying…you have to be lying…oh God! It can't be true…" Tyler let out an anguished cry as a lone tear slipped down his cheek that he quickly wiped away.

"I'm sorry…Tyler…but…but it's true…Damon is my husband. I'm sorry…I never meant to hurt you…I just couldn't…I just couldn't admit how I felt about Damon to anyone…let alone to you. I…I…I love him...and I am sorry that this hurts you." Bonnie said apologetically before gently touching Tyler's shoulder. Tyler jerked away from Bonnie's touch; he couldn't stand to have Bonnie's hands on him at that moment.

"You bitch…how could you hurt him like that?" Caroline spat out as everyone in the room turned their eyes on her.

"You act like I set out to hurt him…I didn't mean to hurt anyone…I truly am sorry Tyler!" Bonnie couldn't believe Caroline's nerve…hell…she was the one who set this in motion. "Bitch!" Bonnie thought to herself.

"Okay, enough with all the dramatics! What is the nature of your visit with my son? You told Klaus that you needed to speak to Damon about Stefan…what information do you have on my son or his death?" Maria interrupted tired of the little scene playing out before her eyes; she needed to know what the stranger wanted and what it had to do with Stefan.

"Ummm…what I have to say I need to say to Damon and Damon only." Tyler replied.

"Fine, we will give you all some privacy…Maria…upstairs now!" Giuseppe ordered before taking his wife's hand and dragging her out of the solarium.

"Now…what the fuck is it that you have to tell me?" Damon asked condescendingly as he turned to face Tyler.

"I know who killed your brother." Tyler stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh…do you now?" Damon responded with a smirk knowing exactly what Tyler was going to say.

"Yes…yes…I do. I did it…I killed Stefan!" Tyler admitted boldly.

Damon burst out laughing before he replied, "Tyler…Tyler…Tyler…you're too late. I already know who killed my brother. My wife did…so yeah…that ploy won't work. I love my wife so much so that I have decided to forgive her that one little transgression. It was an accident…right Babe."

"Yeah…my husband knows the whole truth about that night and he has decided to forgive me, we are moving on, and so should you!" Bonnie said with finality as she allowed Damon to pull her into another embrace as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Bullshit!" Caroline tried to remain quiet, but she couldn't take Bonnie's Stepford Wife act anymore.

"Caroline…this is none of your business so please stay out of it!" Bonnie said snarkily.

"Bons…are you sure you are okay?" Matt finally asked after a brief moment of silence.

"Yes…Matty…I'm fine. I'm in love okay. Please just be happy for me." Bonnie knew that if she got Matt to believe her, then Tyler would eventually believe her.

"Okay, but if there is anything…I mean anything that you need…just call me. Okay?" Matt said before giving Bonnie a bear hug.

"Okay…Matty." Bonnie barely squeaked out.

"I think it's time for us to go." Matt said before gently taking Tyler by the shoulders and leading him towards the door.

"Yeah…let's get the hell out of this zoo!" Caroline said a little too loudly.

"We just can't leave her here!" Tyler said desperately.

"We have no choice…she's made her decision Tyler! She says she loves him! What can we do?" Matt shrugs his shoulders before taking one last look at Bonnie in Damon Salvatore's arms.

"That's a fucking lie! I won't leave her here with him…I just won't!" Tyler spun around marching back over to Damon and Bonnie.

"Ty…Tyler stop…wait!" Caroline called out desperately to Tyler hoping against hope that Matt would reach him before he did something stupid.

"I'm not leaving here without you… Bonnie!" Tyler tugs on Bonnie's arm breaking her embrace with Damon.

"Yeah, the fuck you are…" Damon jumps into Tyler's face ready to knock his fucking lights out.

"No the fuck I'm not! I'm not leaving her here with you!" Tyler spat back ready to punch Damon in his smug ass face.

"You are going to her here…because she is my wife. Got it…my wife…so either you leave here willingly or you can leave here in a pine box. It's your choice. Take your pick." Damon said pushing Tyler against the mantle before he brandished his gun.

"No…no…no…Damon don't. He's leaving now! Aren't you Tyler?" Bonnie tugged on her husband's arm, she could see the gleam from the metal handle on the gun and she knew Damon was serious.

"Bonnie's right…we are leaving now!" Caroline wedges herself in-between Tyler and Damon, as Matt pulls Tyler towards the door.

"This isn't over Salvatore!" Tyler yelled before leaving the solarium.

"Not by a long shot Lockwood!" Damon had enough of the lovesick Tyler Lockwood and his antics.

"How could you threaten him like that?" Bonnie couldn't believe Damon would threaten Tyler with a gun.

"He is making it very difficult for you right now! Can't you see that?" Damon snapped back.

"He's hurt…and…he's in love…and he's been betrayed…how else is he supposed to act?" Bonnie couldn't believe that Damon could be that insensitive.

"Hell, I don't know…like someone with some got damn sense!" Damon was shocked by Bonnie's anger. Hell…he here he was saving her got damn life…did he get a thank you? Hell…no! All she wanted to do was talk about lovesick Tyler, and he certainly wasn't feeling that shit right now. He needed a fucking drink.

"He just found out the love of his life married his enemy, come on…how would you feel?" Bonnie was a little exasperated by Damon's lack of empathy towards Tyler.

"I don't give a fuck how he feels. All I care about is keeping you safe, and right now you are jeopardizing that with all this poor Tyler talk!" Damon walked over to the minibar and poured himself a brandy.

"I'm sorry, but I love him okay! I don't want to see him hurt!" Bonnie was trying not to freak out about the love of her life walking out of the door and out of her life.

"Better him, than you!" Damon retorts before taking a large swig of his brandy.

"I can't do this…I can't…I just can't act like I love you…and…and live in this house with your crazy family…ugh…especially your crazy ass mother!" Bonnie's resolve was slowly breaking from all the drama.

"Yes, you can! Your life depends on it! Now start acting like a doting wife or else!" Damon whispered loudly before taking another swig of his drink.

"Did I hear someone call my name?" Maria asked a little too smugly. She heard Bonnie when she said, '…especially your crazy ass mother!', and she now knew everything wasn't roses and rainbows in her son's new marriage.

"No, we didn't Mrs. Salvatore." Bonnie said sadly.

"You may call me Mother, dear, just as my Damon does." Maria said as she placed her hand on Bonnie's shoulder.

"Thanks…Mother." Bonnie replied as she swallowed trying to keep the bile from rising into her throat.

"Well…I have given Father Vincenzo a call. I have taken the liberty to take care of everything." Maria said as she patted Bonnie's head.

"Mama wants a church wedding…she…uh…doesn't feel that a civil ceremony is binding." Damon said sheepishly.

"Yes…a church wedding is a holy sacrament…binds two people together forever in God's eyes." Maria replied a little too smugly.

"A church wedding…" Bonnie repeated before taking a deep breath.

"I hope this won't be a problem…you know with your family and all…Damon did explain that we are Catholic…my dear." Maria continued to pat Bonnie's head making her uncomfortable.

"Yeah…yeah…he did." Bonnie tried not to let Maria intimidate her.

"Good…I will make all the arrangements for the two families to meet and you two will meet with Father Vincenzo tomorrow…" Maria stopped her ministrations before giving Damon a hug.

"Thanks Mother…" Bonnie said after Damon pinched her a couple times.

"Your welcome mia figlia…and I almost forgot…benvenuto alla mia famiglia mia cara." Maria said a little menacingly as she placed a kiss on Bonnie's forehead before walking out of the solarium.


	13. Big Plans

Bonnie Bennett Salvatore stepped into the Mystic Falls Country Club and groaned loudly as she read the banner over her head that read "Congratulations!" She could not believe that she was here with Damon as his wife; if someone had told her a week ago that she would be married to Damon Salvatore, she would have burst out laughing in their face. Now she had to pretend in front of Damon's family as if she loved him when she could barely stand the sight of him, she really did not know if she would make it through this day without slipping up. She knew she had to because Maria would be watching her like a hawk today checking for any cracks in their facade.

"Hey beautiful…smile!" Damon said as he snuck up on Bonnie and placed his arms around her giving her a light hug.

"Why?" Bonnie asked a little aggravated because of Damon's close proximity.

"Because Mama has graciously put together this luncheon for us, and I don't need anyone thinking you are anything other than a happy and a very, very blushing bride." Damon whispered as he gently squeezed Bonnie's arms before placing a kiss on her forehead.

"We wouldn't want that, now would we?" Bonnie sneered before trying to pull away from Damon. She needed some air, Damon was too close and Bonnie felt like she could not breathe when he was that close to her.

"Stop! I don't know what the fuck your problem is, but you need to get a grip!" Damon snapped before yanking Bonnie back to him.

"Get a grip! Are you serious right now?" Bonnie let out a hollow laugh as she hopelessly tried to put some space between her and Damon.

"Bonnie, I don't know why you have this attitude, but you need to leave that shit at the door!" Damon gripped Bonnie's arms pulling her even closer to him.

"An attitude…hmmm…why would I have an attitude…? Let me think about it…bingo…I have an answer! Oh yeah that's right…a church wedding…really Damon?" Bonnie shrugged out of Damon's grip and walked over to the refreshment table picking up a strawberry.

"What the fuck was I supposed to say? Huh? Enlighten me please wifey." Damon slowly walked up behind Bonnie pulling her back to him.

"I don't know…maybe…no or better yet you could've said hell no because you know as well as I do that a church wedding won't make this marriage real." Bonnie snarked back before placing the strawberry in her mouth, momentarily distracting Damon from the conservation as all his focus went to Bonnie's luscious pink lips.

"Real or not, we are going through with this church wedding." Damon said matter-of-factly after a few minutes of silence.

"Ugh! I can't…do this!" Bonnie whined before lightly stomping her feet.

"Yes you can! You need to get a grip because Mama will be here in a couple minutes, and she is out for blood…your blood to be exact. So start acting like the good wifey I have led her to believe you are or she will definitely be coming after you, and there won't be a damn thing I can do about it! Capisce?" Damon ran his hands along her face before he moved a strand of her ebony hair out of her face.

"Alright…alright!" Bonnie snapped a little too loudly.

"Trouble in paradise already?" Maria asked smugly as she walked into the room followed by Melania and Giuseppe.

"No…no…Mama! Bonnie and I, we were just fooling around…you know…newlyweds and all!" Bonnie elbowed Damon in the ribs before pasting on a smile for his mother's benefit.

"That's right Mrs. Salvatore…Damon was just being a little too…ummm…handsy…that's all." Bonnie smacked Damon's hands when he squeezed her side playfully.

"Hmmm…well…son maybe you need to keep your hands to yourself." Giuseppe laughed and slapped Damon's back before he walked to the refreshment table fixing himself a plate.

"Giuseppe, put that down! Now!" Maria ordered before snatching the plate out of her husband's hands.

"Why?" Giuseppe cried trying to keep his wife from replacing the food he had so generously placed on his plate.

"Our guests haven't arrived yet Giuseppe!" Maria snapped finally winning the battle with the plate, she shooed her husband away from the table after a few tense minutes.

"What guests, Mama?" Damon asked a little curious because he knew his mother was up to no good by the way she was looking as if the cat ate the canary.

"I invited Bonnie's family to join us today to celebrate!" Maria said a tab bit too brightly.

"What?" Bonnie gasped before gripping Damon's hand.

"Oh dear…I hope you don't mind that I invited your family. I thought they should share in this…this wonderful occasion!" Maria stepped a little closer to Bonnie as she smiled menacingly.

"No, no I don't mind at all." Bonnie squared her shoulders and returned Maria's smile, she wasn't going to let Damon's viper of a mother intimidate her today or any other day.

"Good…good. Oh! I almost forgot. Let me introduce you to Father Vincenzo." Maria replied as she pushed Bonnie towards the priest.

"Maria!" Father Vincenzo wrapped Maria in a warm embrace before focusing his attention on the young woman next to Maria.

"Father Vincenzo…this is my new daughter-in-law, Bonnie…and Bonnie dear this is Father Vincenzo." Bonnie shook the older man's hands when Maria introduced them.

"Nice to meet you, Bonnie." Father Vincenzo greeted Bonnie with a warm smile.

"Nice to meet you too, Father." Bonnie smiled genuinely at the older man before taking the hand that Damon offered.

"Damon...congratulations!"

"Thanks, Father!" Damon shook the priest's hands before he pulled Bonnie into another embrace.

"Bonnie, Father Vincenzo will be the one to perform your marriage ceremony!" Maria placed her arms around the priest pulling him further into the room.

"Oh…really?" Bonnie said as she and Damon walked behind his mother and the priest.

"Yes, Father Vincenzo has officiated over almost all the weddings in this family!" Maria chirped as she smiled at the older man.

"Yes, I guess you are right…I married you and Giuseppe too!" Father Vincenzo clapped his hands together.

"Yeah, that was the best and worst day of my life!" Giuseppe chimed in with a laugh.

"Watch it…Giuseppe Salvatore!" Maria laughed before lightly tapping her husband on the nose.

"So with great pleasure I get to perform little Damon's marriage ceremony too!" Father Vincenzo laughed loudly as Damon stuck out his tongue.

"Damon, stop that!" Bonnie and Maria said at the same time causing Damon, Father Vincenzo, and Giuseppe to laugh even harder.

"Men!" Maria huffed before walking away to attend to her other guests.

"Damon, do you mind if I steal your lovely bride for a few minutes?" Father Vincenzo asked before gently guiding Bonnie to a corner.

"Sure…Father." Damon replied before fixing himself a drink.

"Where's Bonnie?" Maria asked walking back over to her husband and son after speaking with her other invited guests.

"She's talking to Father Vincenzo, Mama." Damon replied looking around the room for his wife and the elderly priest.

"Oh, okay. I will go and see how they are doing. Be right back, son." Maria kissed Damon on the forehead before heading to look for Bonnie and Father Vincenzo.

"Bonnie, there you are my dear. I have been looking all over for you dear." Maria pulled Bonnie to the side.

"Maria, I have been right here talking to Father Vincenzo. Is there something I can help you with?" Bonnie prayed that the priest would not leave them alone, but no such luck. Father Vincenzo excused himself quickly, saying his goodbyes to Maria before taking his leave.

"Yes, my dear…I just wanted you to know that I am on to you, sweetie. I know what your game is and I know that you aren't in love with my son. And when Damon tires of you, I will be there to exact my revenge for my precious Stefan's death!" Maria rubbed her hand along Bonnie's back. Bonnie's spine stiffened, she couldn't believe Maria had the gall to threaten her. Bonnie straightened up, deciding she wasn't going to let Damon's mother know that what she said had gotten underneath Bonnie's skin.

"You're wrong, Mother dear...I wouldn't be here if I weren't so much in love." Bonnie sneered before walking off and leaving Maria standing alone in the foyer.

"Mama, are you okay?" Melania asked suddenly walking up to her mother and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm fine, mia figlia…just giving Damon's wife a little warning." Maria replied taking her daughter's hand, walking back into the banquet hall.

"Mama, I don't trust her at all." Melania shook her head staring at her brother and new sister-in-law.

"Don't worry Melania, she won't make it past their first anniversary." Maria had plans for the new Mrs. Damon Salvatore…big plans.


	14. Meet the In-laws

**I am so sorry for the long, long time between updates. I have been working a lot of overtime at my job and then I got sick, so I have not had any time to update this story. The updates will probably be a little sporadic until late November/early December. I have a lot coming up, but I will try to update as much as I can. Thanks for the continued support.**

Bonnie walked into the banquet hall and went straight for the champagne tray. She just could not believe Maria had the nerve to threaten her. "That lady has some nerve!" She mumbled to herself loudly before taking a huge gulp of champagne.

"Who has some nerve?" Damon asked as he walked up behind Bonnie. "Huh?" Bonnie was just a little unnerved by Damon's sudden closeness. She could not understand his need to be close to her all the damn time. She drained the remainder of the champagne in her glass before tossing the flute on a nearby tray.

"What's wrong?" Damon asked concerned by Bonnie's dour facial expression. He was just a little alarmed, as he had just watched her gulp down the champagne so quickly.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Bonnie tried to look anywhere, but at Damon. His piercing blue eyes were staring her down, and it was making her even more uncomfortable than she already was.

"You're lying. What has my mother done now?" Damon tried to rub his hand down Bonnie's arm, but she shook it off before grabbing another glass from the waiter.

"Nothing. She's…everything is fine. Ok. Don't worry so much." Bonnie took a deep breath before turning to give Damon a reassuring squeeze of her hand and a small smile.

"I have to worry for the both of us." Damon pulled Bonnie into a light hug hoping to put her at ease before placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Let's get this party started." Maria announced as she re-entered the room with Melania in tow.

"What about Bonnie's family, Mama?" Damon asked.

"We can get started, Son, and then when they arrive, we can eat." Maria replied clapping her hands together.

"Are you sure, Mama?" Damon didn't want to offend his new in-laws, knowing that they probably weren't going to be too happy with him and Bonnie's elopement.

"Yes, sweetheart, we can start the party, mingle, and meet the guests." Maria placed her arms around her son reassuringly.

"Okay, Mama." Damon held out his arms for Bonnie beckoning her to his side.

"Attention! Attention! We're gathered here today to celebrate my son, Damon's surprise nuptials! That's right ladies, Damon's finally off the market! I know there are many, many, many sad young women out there now, but he has married a lovely young woman who I just adore. I just want to say congratulations to Damon and Bonnie, the new Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore!" Maria pasted on a fake smile as she clapped her hands together starting a round of applause for the couple.

"Bonnie, what is going on?" Remy, Bonnie's older brother, asked as he approached her with Bonnie's sister-in-law and Grams in tow causing the applause to stop. All eyes in the room were now on her.

"Ummm…Remy…surprise! Damon and I got married the other night." Bonnie replied sheepishly before giving her Grams and Ava a hug.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Remy asked incredulously.

"Well…Damon and I…ummm…we got married." Bonnie stumbled a bit before Damon place his arms around her giving her a comforting squeeze.

"Huh? Okay, let me get this straight, you ran off and married Damon Salvatore. What about Tyler?" Remy was just so confused by the recent turn of events. He didn't know if he was being punked right now. He was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out any minute and yell out his famous catch phrase.

"I know it is all so sudden, but Bonnie and I love each other. We decided we couldn't waste any more time, so we just did it. We went to the Justice of the Peace, and we got married the other night." Damon rubbed his hands soothingly down Bonnie's side in hopes of calming her frayed nerves.

"You're joking right?" Remy questioned before bursting out laughing in Damon's face.

"No…no…I'm not. I don't see this as a laughing matter. I am quite serious. Now, would you like to see the marriage license?" Damon replied tersely before pulling the marriage license out of Bonnie's purse.

"As a matter of fact, yes…yes, I would." Remy yanked the license from Damon's grasp before inspecting it and tossing it back at Damon.

"Remy! Stop it! You are being rude to my husband, and…and it is uncalled for!" Bonnie's voice rose with each word she spoke. She shook her head at her brother's callous treatment of Damon. She knew he would be mad, but she did not think he would be so overtly rude to someone he didn't even know.

"Bonnie and Remy, stop it this instant!" Sheila Bennett had heard and seen enough, and she refused to allow her grandchildren to act in this manner while she was present.

"Sorry, Grams." Bonnie and Remy replied in unison both turning away from the scathing looks they received from their grandmother.

"Ummm…excuse me. Hi, I am Maria Salvatore, Damon's mother. Can we take this out in the hall away from prying eyes and ears?" Maria knew she had to take control of the situation before it escalated any further. She refused to be fodder for the Mystic Fall's gossip mill.

"Yes, let's take this out in the hall." Giuseppe Salvatore ushered the two families out in the hall before giving a brief explanation to the guests and closing the doors to the banquet hall giving them a little privacy.

"Now, I think we should let the kids explain what's going on." Sheila Bennett announced before turning expectantly to Bonnie and Damon.

"Ummm…there isn't much to explain…Damon and I fell in love, and we decided to get married." Bonnie explained rather quickly.

"Okay, am I missing something here? What about Tyler Lockwood…your boyfriend? You know the guy you've been dating for the past year and a half!" Remy asked pointedly, he was a little annoyed with Bonnie's lack of an explanation. He just didn't understand his little sister sometimes, she did the dumbest things.

"Tyler and I broke up…I…I hid my feelings for Damon for weeks, and I…I just couldn't take it anymore, so I admitted how I felt about him, and we decided that we wanted…no…needed to get married because…because we are in love!" Bonnie rambled on hoping that her family would believe her.

"Oh…is that right?" Remy kinked his eyebrow at his sister disbelievingly.

"Yes…yes, that's right. Bonnie and I love each other, and it doesn't matter what you or anyone else has to say about it. We are married, and we are going to stay that way." Damon straightened his shoulders preparing internally to go toe-to-toe with Bonnie's brother.

"We'll see about that!" Remy replied stepping forward challenging Damon.

"Remy, please…stop! Okay? Just stop! He's my husband, and I am an adult." Bonnie slid in-between her husband and her brother praying that a fight wouldn't break out. That would be all she needed right now, another thing for Damon's mother to blame her for…damn…she couldn't take this.

"Oh…please! Adults don't go running off in the middle of the night, and decide to…hmmm…marry a gangster! You know and I know that these people are nothing but criminals!" Remy just wanted to take his sister, and shake some sense into her. What the hell was she thinking about marrying into that…that family?

"Excuse, me? We are not criminals!" Melania was just so offended by Remy's assumption; she could not believe how judgmental the lower middle class could be.

"We've read all about you people in the local paper!" Remy replied refusing to back down to these low-life criminals.

"I don't know what you have heard or read, but we, The Salvatores, are not I repeat not criminals, thieves, or thugs! We are a decent hard-working family who has achieved some success, and people are jealous of that success! We have not nor would we ever participate in any criminal activities. We earn our living honestly, and I want to keep it that way! So don't believe everything you hear or hell even what you read about my family!" Giuseppe had had enough of the sideshow. He was hungry, and quite frankly he was tired of all the back and forth. He was ready to move this along, so that he could finally eat!

"If that is the crap you're selling, we aren't buying it! Bonnie, this isn't like you. You would never associate with people like this; I don't know what the hell is going on around here. But, I will figure it out, and I will get my baby sis away from you people!" Remy vowed.

"Remy, stop! There isn't anything going on, I love Damon! Okay? Please stop, you're embarrassing me!" Bonnie pleaded tugging on her brother's sleeve.

"Enough! You will not disparage my son or my family in this manner! Who the hell are you to judge anyone? Watch your step, young man!" Giuseppe's veins were beginning to pop in his forehead.

Damon knew he better put an end to this before someone got hurt. "Everyone calm down!"

"I think the young man is right, and I think it is time for us to go." Sheila Bennett stepped in front of her grandson giving him a knowingly look.

Remy knew what that look meant. "Fine…fine…Grams, but I don't like this at all."

"It's Bonnie's decision, Son, just let it go for now." Sheila placed her arms around Bonnie giving her a tight squeeze before whispering in Bonnie's ear.

"I'm fine…Grams. I really, really am." Bonnie replied giving her grandmother a genuine smile.

"Okay, sweetums. I trust you know what you are doing." Sheila placed a kiss on Bonnie's forehead before grabbing Ava's hand, and dragging Remy through the Country club's doors.

"Well…in all my life…I have never!" Maria was just so taken back by the young man's uncouthness.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore, about my brother's behavior." Bonnie apologized.

"It's fine, my dear. No harm, no foul." Giuseppe smiled trying to ease Bonnie's mind.

"It is not fine. That man was just rude! And the things he said about our family!" Melania spouted angrily.

"Melania…enough! Mind your own damn business!" Melania was pissing Damon the fuck off. Why couldn't she just mind her own fucking business for once?

"Melania and Damon, stop it this instant!" Maria admonished both her children, she hated when they fought with each other.

"Sorry, Mama." Damon said giving his mom a kiss on the side of her forehead.

"Fine!" Melania pouted.

"Let's give Bonnie and Damon some privacy, besides I am starving!" Giuseppe let out a slight chuckle before he ushered his wife and daughter back inside the dining room.

"Damon, I am sorry about all the things my brother said about your family. That wasn't fair of him to say those hateful things about your family. He doesn't even know you all, and usually he doesn't act that way." Bonnie tried to smooth things over because she still needed Damon on her side.

"It's fine, Bonnie. It isn't like what he said was not true. Everything your brother said was true. We are criminals. Try as I might to forget that, that is essentially what we are." Damon had been optimistic for his relationship with his in-laws, but now he knew that idea was shot to hell.

"I'm sorry…" Bonnie just couldn't think of anything else to say to give Damon any comfort.

"It's fine…ummm…are you ready to go back in?" Damon suddenly needed a drink.

"No…ummm…give me a minute." Bonnie decided she needed to take a few minutes for herself before she walked back into the lion's den.

"Fine, join us when you're ready." Damon placed a kiss on Bonnie's forehead before heading back into the banquet hall.

Bonnie closed her eyes, and took a deep cleansing breath. She was really trying to remain calm, but she didn't know how long she could possibly keep up this charade. She didn't love Damon, and she knew everyone around her knew she didn't that fact also. Bonnie stood with her eyes closed for what seemed like forever. Just taking deep breaths, after a few minutes she heard the doors open. She knew it was probably Damon coming to check on her, so she didn't even bother to open her eyes. She heard footsteps coming toward her, so she said, "Damon, I will be right in."

Bonnie didn't receive a response, so she didn't bother to open her eyes. All of a sudden, Bonnie was spun in the opposite direction and all she felt was a warm set of lips on hers. Bonnie thought, "Tyler…" Her eyes flew open to see Tyler standing in front of her in the flesh, and he was kissing her. Really, really kissing her, Bonnie momentarily forgot that she was married to Damon, as she returned Tyler's kiss. In that moment, all Bonnie could think about was Tyler, and he was here. Bonnie and Tyler were so swept up in their kiss, that they did not realize that someone was watching them from the doorway. The person smiled knowingly saying to themselves, "Gotcha!"

_**Uh oh! Who is watching Tyler and Bonnie? When Damon find out? What will Damon do? Until next time…**_


End file.
